The Phoenix
by dd9736
Summary: The present is shaped by the past, the future is shaped by the present. This is slash, just a warning, and mpreg, eventually, just writing it now. I'm done, the rating is just to be safe, because i am not entirely sure how the parts would be looked at.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:This is a crossover between the three CSI shows, NCIS, and Sue Thomas FBI, I don't own any of them and I don't earn any money off of this, unfortunately, i might actually have money if that was the case.

Summery: Nick's life was shaped by his past, and he's been ruled by the attack his entire life, now he must move on with his life, and survive the affects of his attacker coming back.

Chapter 1

I knelt next to David, as he talked about the body, and probable cause of death, when he stopped talking, I said, "May I?" motioning to the body.

David nodded, the scene had looked all to familiar when I walked into the house, and I held my breath as I turned the victim's head slightly, exposing the other side of the young man's face, it had been cut, and by the amount of blood, it looked as if it had been done before he died, in that very place. "Definitely Perimortem," David said.

The body was loaded an hour later, as soon as I finished processing the room. At the lab, I began to process my own evidence, dreading the phone call I would most likely receive the next day. I went down to the autopsy room, in order to observe the autopsy, the radio in the corner of the room was playing music, "I knew he was coming in, Nick, the news was on the radio," Doc Robbins said.

"What can you tell me?" I asked.

"I can tell you, that this reminds me of a case, just before you arrived here, at a forensics conference, the speaker was an unknown, Spanish decent, he outlined the case, and explained that this man was one of the most gruesome serial killers, ever, he left two witnesses, but that hasn't even helped find him, he's very good at hiding."

"I know, I was there, the scene looked all wrong, as soon as I walked in, I knew that this wasn't so simple as it looked."

"It never is, however, I can't help you simplify it, I've done the full autopsy already, and I'll tell you, whatever he uses to keep these people down isn't something like a blow to the head, there is no bruising" Doc Robbins said.

Grissom picked up on the fact that I was working a high profile case, and met me in the elevator going back up to the lab. "Fill me in, I'm assigning myself to work under you on this case," Grissom said.

"Under me?" I asked.

"Yes, you have lead, you were at the scene, not me," he told me.

"Alright, vic fits a profile, for a case the FBI is tracking, twenty-thirty year old male, dark hair, dark eyes, under six feet and single, he was knocked out with an as of yet unknown substance, where his face was carved up, then he was shot, the scene was clean, this guy knows what he's doing, the FBI has been looking for him for years," I said.

"You got this from where?" Grissom asked.

"I recognized the MO, from a case I worked on in Texas, with the FBI," I told Grissom.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?" Grissom asked.

"I've been working in layout room two, I was hoping to find some trace on the vic's clothes, but I have to call the field office, and get a number I can contact the agents at," I told him.

"Alright, the field office number is in my office," Grissom told me.

"Thanks," I told him, and we went our separate ways.

In the office, I pulled Grissom's Rolodex towards me, I flipped to the 'F' section, and spotted the name of one of the Agents who was going to be protecting my friend, Joseph. I found the field office number, and dialled the number, instead of asking about the case though, I gave them the name of my contact, it was time for my weekly call in anyway. "Hey Nick, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm good, Just doing my call in, and I was wondering if someone is actively investigating my case right now?" I asked.

"It's on hiatus, but we've been solving cases like crazy, and someone is bound to start going through cold cases again soon, and since it's a gristly one, so at least the new guys will want a crack at it," She replied.

"What if I asked for the case files?" I asked.

"Why?" she replied.

"Because, he may have struck again," I told her.

"Then I'll send them over, with an agent tomorrow," she said.

I knew she'd probably be the one who came by, and I didn't much like the thought. I went to the layout room, where Grissom was tape lifting the victim's clothing. "You find anything?"

"Nothing unusual, what did the FBI agents say?" he asked.

"That it's considered a cold case, they're sending an agent by tomorrow with the case files," I told him.

"So they're just ignoring it?" Grissom asked.

"Yup, Grissom, this case started like twenty years ago, what they do with cases like this, is when someone gets bored, they go through cold cases, and they sometimes choose this one, then it get's a cursory look over, review of the evidence, then it get's put back on the shelf," I told him.

"When was his last confirmed kill?" Grissom asked.

"I'm not sure, but we'll find out, when we get the case files, he had twenty confirmed kills when I was in Texas," I told him.

"Alright, what is the plan, how do we work this?" Grissom asked.

"We process what we have, go over the old case files, tomorrow."

We finished the shift, and locked up the evidence, I drove home, took a shower, and stood, looking in the mirror, my face was flawlessly smooth, until I took the makeup remover from the medicine cabinet and wiped it down the left side of my face, revealing what I truly looked like, the whole side of my face was scarred, that was my big secret, not my biggest secret, but it was the one anyone could find out. I rubbed my moisturizing cream into the skin, it was what kept the scars from appearing under the makeup.

I was about to lay down on my bed, when the door bell rang, I ignored it, and curled up on my bed, the doorbell rang again, a minute later, I grabbed my gun, and went into the bathroom, where I poured some foundation onto a piece of foam, then I covered the scars on my face, with a speed that only came from many years of practice. "Now, Nick, I hope that you're not hiding something," it was Greg that surprised me. I had already trained my gun on him, and I didn't move it, even after I recognized him.

"Nick, can you please not point that at me?" Greg asked.

"Sorry," I lowered my gun, and looked in the mirror, behind me.

"A little vain?" Greg picked up the bottle I had been using.

"Maybe I am," I said, putting my gun on the counter, and picking up the foam piece, to blend the rest of the lines on my face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to check on you, you seemed pretty disturbed, with the case you were working on," Greg said.

"I'm fine, Greg, how did you get in, I know I locked the door," I told him.

"It was open, when I got here," Greg told me.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Four," Greg said.

"I just lost five hours," I told him.

A/N: to be continued... I've got twelve more chapters finished, and i'll try to post them, as i edit them. This goes after the affects of the attack, and the return of the attacker, so you know.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: see chapter one

Summery: see chapter one

A/N: I hate these things in most cases, but i have to say it, Thanx to all the people who left reviews, i fixed the title, but i just have a hard time seeing things like that, if letters are mixed up, i may not see it, thanx for the tip. I'd give you all stuffed snakes in honour of the latest episode, but well, i don't have any, well, that just sux and i'll sign off now.

Chapter 2

I picked up my cell phone, "I need to talk to Special Agent Gibbs," I said, when someone picked up.

"Gibbs here," The familiar voice answered.

"Gibbs, don't say a word, I need information on the old Gundry case," I told him who I was, without saying it, and asked for information.

"Gundry?" he asked.

"Charles Gundry, and Joseph Robson, two navy brats were assaulted, you found them," I reminded him.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"Gibbs, NCIS investigated an assault, they never solved it, now I would like to look over the file, in connection with a murder, I'd like you to fed ex it to the Las Vegas crime lab."

"How do you know me?" Gibbs asked.

"Gibbs, I've been talking to you three times a year, since I was fifteen, and you've never mistaken my voice before," I told him.

"Oh, so you're not alone, why do you want the file?" Gibbs asked.

"Because, I want to go over it, also, is there any chance you could send the evidence from that case, there is something I want our DNA tech to go over," I said.

"It's NCIS evidence," Gibbs said.

"I just need to see if the attacker left DNA behind on the boys' clothes, DNA testing wasn't even possible back then, I know it was the same guy, alright, he's smarter now, we haven't found any DNA evidence, but when that wasn't a possibility, he might not have been so careful,"

"There is a statute of limitations, on assault, what makes you thing we even still have the evidence?"

"Because you said it was NCIS evidence, Gibbs, you know better than anyone, if those boys turn up murdered, even now, any sign it may be connected, and that evidence may be enough to get a conviction," I said.

"Did you find him, is that why you want the file, did Joseph get killed?" Gibbs asked.

"No, no sign of him, probably living with a gaggle of kids tagging after him, he never got it as bad, didn't scar as much," I said.

"He's killed again, this time you're hoping to connect it," Gibbs said.

"Even six years ago, DNA testing wasn't good enough to get a match off skin cells from clothing, especially cold cases," I reminded him, "but now, now there is a chance, that there is something that they missed then, and if we can even find out who it is, then the FBI can justify watching him, and then they'll have the chance of catching him, and arresting him."

"I'll get my lab tech to run the clothes, then send you the files," Gibbs said.

"Thanks Gibbs," I said.

Gibbs POV

I hung up after talking to Charles, it was strange, hearing his voice, it had changed so much over the past month, he was tense, about something, especially calling at sixteen hundred his time working nights, as he did. I walked out of the bull pen, silently, gaining strange looks from McGee, Kate, and Tony. I went to the evidence lockup, and found the box, with the old case, and signed it out. Back up stairs, I dropped the box on my desk, "What is it, Boss?" DiNozzo asked, from his desk, "We have another case?"

"This is a cold case, a friend of mine requested it," I told him.

"What kind of case?" he asked.

"Attempted murder of an officer's son," I replied, pulling out the bags with the clothes, "He's hoping that Abby will be able to get some skin cells off the outside, the guy has killed since, and he's only getting better at hiding his tracks, our evidence is the only stuff he has access to in the next few days, and he needs as much as possible as soon as possible."

I carried the clothes into the lab proper, and dropped them on Abby's desk, "What is it?" she asked.

"Can you get an attacker's DNA off this?" I asked.

"I'll do my best," Abby smiled.

"Thanks Abs," I smiled, "Call me if you get anything."

"You got it Boss," She smiled.

I headed back out to the bull pen, I picked up the pair of files, and dropped them on Tony's desk, "Tony, I want you to make copies of those files, one for each of us, and two to send to my friend, Kate, and McGee, take the evidence to the layout room, I want you to go through everything, find me something," I said.

My cell rang, looking at the caller ID, I saw it was Joseph's number, "Gibbs here," I said.

"Gibbs, do you think I can get a copy of my case file, and the clothes, I want to see if I can get any of our attackers DNA off of them."

"I'll send you the report, when I get it back, and I'll fed ex the files as soon as possible," I told him, covering the mouth piece, I called to Tony, Make two extra copies of those files."

"Two extra?" Joseph asked.

"He called me less than an hour ago, wanting the same thing, So I'll do for you, what I'm doing for him."

"You have his number? Can I get it?" He asked.

"I'm not even supposed to have yours, why do you think I have his?" I pointed out.

"Because you have mine," Joseph pointed out.

"Alright, the number is (555) 849 - 3849 his catch phrase is something you'll be able to figure out, easy," I told him.

"Thanks, Gibbs," Joseph said.

"So you just keep in touch with people you aren't even supposed to know," Kate asked.

"For your information, I don't know anyone, I just know their location, and phone number, I know nothing else," I told Kate.

"Why?" she asked.

"In case they need to hear a familiar voice, Now, I gave you an assignment," I told her, and she turned back to the layout room. Tony came back a few minutes later, with nine sets of folders, I wrote on each one, and told him to give copies to Kate and McGee, then help them with the evidence. I placed each of the sets into Fed Ex envelopes, and put labels on them, writing the addresses from memory.

"No paper, no data," I reminded myself, getting into my car. I pulled up at the Fed Ex office, and ran in.

"Can I help you?" some one asked.

"I need to get these to someone today, their time," I told the agent at the counter. "Yeah, where do you want it to go?" she asked.

"Two to Miami-Dade crime lab, and Two to Las Vegas Crime lab," I told her.

She started laughing, "You want to get two packages to Miami tonight?"

"That's what I said," I told her in all seriousness.

"You're funny, it's the end of the business day, there is no way anyone will be willing to run that," she said.

"I need to get these to Miami, it's a matter of life and death," I told her.

"No can do," she said.

I left, carrying all four envelopes, back at the lab, "DiNozzo, Kate, I've got something for you to do," I called into the layout room.

"It's seven at night, Gibbs, you can't be serious, we had been heading home, when you started handing this out, and it's a cold case, it'll still be here in the morning," Tony said.

"DiNozzo, for that, I'm sending you to Miami, Kate, you're heading to Vegas, I need these packages delivered to the crime labs there, Abby's booking your flights," I smiled.

Sitting back at my desk, flipping through the case file, I looked up at them, "Do you have a problem?" I asked.

"Who are we delivering these to?" Kate asked.

"At the crime lab, Tony, ask for Eric Delco, when you see him, tell him the files are for his friend, if he asks which one, just mention my name, Kate, your contact is Greg Sanders, he's a lab tech, tell him the files are for NCIS, even if it makes no sense to you, it will to him," I told them, I noticed DiNozzo smiled when I said Eric Delco's name.

"You know Delco?" I asked.

"I know him, no worries there," he said.

Tim's POV

I was going over the evidence one more time, when the night shift supervisor came into the layout room, "Tim, Delco went home hours ago, go home, and get some sleep, you miss way to much, when you're tired,"

I was about to leave, when a cab pulled up, I stepped into the shadows, he was familiar, but I wasn't sure where from. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"I'm looking for Delco, is he still around, or has he gone home already?" a male voice asked.

"He's gone home, may I ask who is looking for him?" I replied.

"My Name is Tony DiNozzo, I've been asked to deliver a package to him, I'll go by his place, I know where it is," he said.

"How do you know where it is?" I asked, getting suspicious.

"I'm a friend of his, I was just told to try here first," he said, turning around, then he turned back to me, "can you give me the number of a taxi company?"

"I'll give you a ride, I was just leaving, anyway," I told him.

"You don't even know me," he said.

"I have no trust issues, besides, I heard your name, last time I talked to Gibbs," I laughed.

"You know Gibbs?" he asked.

"That I do, come on, let's go, I've been ordered to get some sleep, I want to be back by the time day shift starts in the morning," I said.

"Alright, may I ask who I'll be riding with?" he asked.

"You may, I'm Tim, I've worked with Eric since I started here," I replied.

"Nice to meet you, Tim, like I said, I'm Tony," he said.

He followed me to my bike, and I drove him to Delco's house, leaving him across the street, he crossed over, carrying a duffel bag, which he had somehow gotten onto his back.

Greg's POV

I was sitting in the lab, when the phone rang, "DNA/Chem lab, Greg speaking," I said.

"Greg, you have a visitor, can I send her back?" the night receptionist asked.

"No, I'll go out there," I replied.

I finished what I was doing, and walked to the reception area, there was one woman sitting in the chairs, she had a leather bag on the chair next to her, the receptionist pointed to her, before going back to a crossword, or the like. "I'm Greg," I said walking up to her.

"My name is Kate, I've got some files for someone here, though I'm not entirely sure who, I was supposed to tell you it's for NCIS, I'm just confused as to why," She said.

"That would be for Nick, I'll take you to him," I replied, at the reception desk, I grabbed a visitor's tag, "Ramona, I'm bringing Kate back to see Nick."

"She'll need to sign this," Ramona picked up a clipboard and placed it on the shelf.

Kate put the tag on, after she signed the sheet, and I led her back, "Nick is in one of the layout rooms, hiding out, because if Griss sees him, he'll send him for supper, he hasn't left the lab, since four this afternoon, didn't even stop to eat," I told Kate, walking down the hall.

"Greg, have you convinced Nick to get something to eat?" Grissom asked.

"Not yet, just heading that way, Griss, this is Kate, she's got something Nick requested from NCIS," I replied.

"Make him eat before you give him what he wanted, or he won't eat, until he knows exactly what happened."

Kate's POV

"Got it," I said, as we were walking into the room, my cell rang, "What is it?" I asked.

"Gibbs here, we got a match off of some DNA in CODAS, it's suspect DNA, while you're in Vegas, I want you to check if he's there, one Jason Maverick, convicted six years ago, on sexual assault charges, released on parole last month, just in time to skip out of town, and get to Miami, for that murder, then there was the murder in Vegas, and a second one in Miami, two days ago."

"How did you find this out?" I asked.

"Abby finished running the DNA samples, and I just got off the phone with my friend who Tony was going to visit."

"Alright, I've been asked to be sure he eats, before I give him anything, so I'll deal with that in about an hour."

"No, Kate, get the word out, as to who this guy is, Abby sent you his mug shot, get it out there, first."

I turned back to the guy, Grissom, "I've been given a suspect, we've got records, that he's been between here and Miami, where two more murders took place, one before, one after, I've got a name, and mug shot."

"You guys work fast," he said.

"It's personal, for my boss, I'm not sure why, but it's personal enough, that he's done anything to get this guy," I told him, "I'm with NCIS, by the way,"

"How did the Navy get involved?"

"Two officer's sons were attacked by this guy, when he first started, as near as I can get out of Gibbs, anyway."

"You bring my files?" a voice asked.

"Yeah, but you don't get them till you eat," Grissom said.

"Listen, I can't get word out here, it's not my jurisdiction, a twenty year old attempted murder, overlaid by several actual murders, with nothing to do with the Navy, I need you to get his face out there, his name, let's get this guy," I said.

"Alright, Nick, order Chinese for all of us, Greg, call the NCIS lab, get their results, Kate, we'll get started on the DA, let's get an arrest warrant for this guy,"

"Actually, here are the files, Mr. Grissom, I've been asked to protect Nick, until the FBI shows up, to do their job, this guy has killed two, make that three men who look like one of his first victims, and two who look like Nick, and that's just the last five murders, I don't know about the ones before that."

"Fine, I'll order the food, Nick, take Kate into one of the conference rooms, and dial up the DA,"

In the conference room, Nick dialled a number from memory, there was an annoyed voice on the other end, "Sorry to bother you, Ma'am, but we've got jurisdiction on a case that the Feds will be all over, we need to file for an arrest warrant on ..." Nick trailed off, since he hadn't been listening in on my conversation with Gibbs.

"Jason Maverick, he's been implicated, due to DNA evidence in a connected attempted murder," I said.

"And the charge will be?" The DA asked.

"Murder, in the first degree, Florida will want a kick at him for two, as well," I said.

"Texas and Illinois will want him for at least one each, six years ago," Nick said.

"And you know these are all connected how?"

"Because, there were two men in the witness protection program, his first victims, in each of those places, when the murders occurred, he's obsessed."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I finished chapter 16 so in celebration here's a new chapter for all of you. If you find any mistakes annoying, find me a reliable beta reader, since i don't have one, you get to put up with the mistakes.

Tony's POV

I was sitting on the couch, next to Eric, when my cell rang, "DiNozzo, did you get those files where they need to be?" it was Gibbs.

"I'm at Eric's house, he said he'd bring them in with him tomorrow," I told Gibbs

"No, DiNozzo, there's been a change of plans, they want to grab this guy, as soon as he shows his face, I want you to get Eric to take you to Tim's place, I want you to guard him, until the FBI shows up, and even after, until I give you the word, that he's safe with who he's with, or I give the word, that the guy has been caught, got it DiNozzo?"

"Yes, Gibbs," I sighed.

"What is it, Tony?" Eric asked.

"I'm ordering you to protect a witness, DiNozzo, you have to do that," Gibbs reminded me.

"Gibbs has given me a new assignment, I'm supposed to protect Tim, from the killer he's been chasing," I said.

"Protect Tim?" Eric said.

"Those are my instructions, and I can't argue with them, will you come with me?" I asked.

"Sure, Tim might be more willing to have you there, if someone he knows is there, but one thing, I've never told him about us," Eric replied.

"Alright, I haven't told anyone either," I told him.

"Well, lets go," Eric said, We got into his SUV, as we drove, he asked, "Does anyone suspect, that you even like guys, or is your ladies man facade still holding up?"

"Kate probably suspects, but the Navy has a don't ask, don't tell policy, and I'm on the don't tell side," I replied.

Eric started laughing, "It's true, but it's funny, at the same time."

"Kate can ask, whenever she wants, I'll probably tell," I smiled

"It's strange, usually people don't have this kind of cooperation, with both wanting to keep their relationship secret," Eric said.

"That's because you don't hear about them."

We pulled up at a fair sized house, where Eric pulled into the driveway, I started looking around, alert, despite the fact that Gibbs seemed to think that I was irresponsible, I have gained responsibility since I started working for him, and was a responsible person before that.

We got out of the SUV, and I followed Eric up the front steps, he rang the doorbell, and Tim answered with a tired look on his face. "Do you know what time it is?" he asked.

"It's time for Gibbs to let me sleep, but I can't do that, until I follow orders, and the latest orders include protecting you," I said.

"Protecting me?" Tim asked.

"That's what he was told to do, so how about, we come in, make his boss happy, by being here, and if you want, you can go back to bed." Eric said.

"Come in, but I'm calling Gibbs," Tim said.

Tim walked away from the door, and we stepped in, it was a nice house, Eric pointed a few pictures out to me, as we waited for Tim to come back. "Alright, Tony, is it? You are welcome to sleep on my couch, but, Eric, you don't need to be here," Tim said.

"Actually, this, Jason Maverick has killed two men in Miami, who look enough like Eric, that even if he wasn't my friend, I wouldn't want to leave him alone," I told him.

"Fine, but you two are sharing the couch," Tim said, with a note of vindictiveness in his tone.

"Alright," I said, with a smile.

"Tony, his couch isn't a pullout," Eric said.

"Well, I call first shift sleeping, as I've been up since oh-five hundred this morning," I told him.

Tim started laughing, "Eric, I got a new couch last week, it is a pullout."

Tim pulled out some pillows, and sheets, dropping two blankets on top of the pile, he pulled the cushions off the couch, and pulled it out, "I bought it used, but the mattress is new, so you don't have to worry about what would show up under ALS," Tim put the sheets on, then the blankets, Eric and I pulled pillowcases on the two pillows. "Have a good sleep," Tim left the room.

I pulled off my jacket, and took off the holster I wore, causing Eric to pause, "You've been wearing that the whole time?"

"I always wear it, it's policy," I told him.

"Unless ..." Eric said, sensing the but.

"Unless I am on a submarine, plane, or am meeting the president," I replied. I took the gun out of the holster, checked it, and placed it on the end table, where it would be in easy reach.

I took off my shirt and pants, and was about to climb into the bed, when Eric said, "You can't sleep like that, not sharing a bed with another guy."

"Fine," I pulled open my bag, and pulled out a pair of training pants, that I used for my morning runs.

"Better?" I asked.

"Much, now, touch me, and I will beat you," he said.

"Me touch you," I laughed, "you're the one who's a cuddle bum," I had picked up an accent, spending time in an Irish neighbourhood, and it still came out once in awhile.

Eric and I laughed, while climbing under the blankets, we positioned ourselves at opposite ends of the mattress, I reached up, and shut off the light, then checked that I could reach my gun, and repositioned it, so that I could reach it, turning on my side, I looked at Eric, "This is strange, the first time we shared a bed, was one just like this, Gibb's office, I believe, he was ready to kill me in the morning, for breaking in there."

"You were the one who invited me, the same weekend as a conference, where there were no hotel rooms, and then your building was being fumigated," Eric said.

"That was not my fault, I was told two days before," I reminded him.

"Are you two done arguing yet?" Tim called from the bedroom.

"Yes daddy," I called, causing Eric to laugh.

"How long is it now?" Eric asked quietly.

"How long for what?" I asked.

"Since you saw him last?" Eric responded.

"I don't know, how long have I known you?" I usually answered questions like that, with a question.

"Just answer the question."

"I was fifteen, I don't know why I ever stepped on a base again, after what he did," I laughed, "he kicked me out, disowned me, and now I work to protect the likes of him in some cases."

"Fifteen, out on your own, I'm glad you found my mother, best thing that ever happened in my house, we saved you, and you saved my brother, more than once," Eric smiled.

"He wasthree, whenhe came ashore, right? Your mom eight and a half months pregnant with you?"

"Yes, you should call him sometime, he was fifteen, when you left, such a usual number, don't you think? The killer's first victims, the ones who survived, you, me, my brother,"

"Yes, Eric, I do call him once a week, but he doesn't want to talk to me, not since he found out," I told him.

"That's Mark for you, he won't talk to anyone if he's mad, I sometimes wish I could call him, for you, but I know that would only make it worse."

We fell asleep soon after, and I slept like a log, getting up at seven the next morning. Eric was cuddled up to my side, and I slipped out of his grasp, I pulled on a t-shirt, from my bag, then my holster, then I checked my gun, before putting it back in it's holster. "You remind me of an FBI agent," Tim said, I hadn't realized he was up. I walked to the table, where he sat, and said, "I used to be, personal protection, for witnesses, between moves, and on vacation, whenever they had need of additional security,"

"And you have no problem slipping back into that role?" Tim asked.

"Nope, that's one of the reasons Gibbs hired me," I told him.

"I was just waiting for you to get up, what would you like for breakfast?" Tim changed the subject.

"I'm not sure, I'm not used to eating right after waking up, whatever," I told him.

"How can you not be used to eating right after you wake up?" he asked.

"I usually go for a run in the morning, or when I sleep at work, it's usually a big case, and I don't have time to eat."

"Interesting, so does Eric always cuddle like that?"

"Whenever we end up sharing space," I told Tim.

Tim seemed about to say something, when my cell rang, "DiNozzo," I said.

"DiNozzo, he's killed someone else in Vegas, he took a flight that landed in Miami an hour ago, how far are you currently from the airport?" Gibbs asked.

"How far is your place from the airport?" I asked.

"Less than an hour," Tim said, "Why?"

"Less than an hour, Gibbs, I'll stay alert," I told him.

"Get him to the crime lab, where security is tighter," Gibbs told me.

"There is risk involved in moving him," I told Gibbs.

"There is risk in everything, get him to the lab,"

"Yes sir," I said. Hanging up my phone, I turned to Tim, "grab what you need, we're going to the lab."

"There's more risk in moving me, than staying put, I know that, so I don't think it's a good thing to do," Tim said.

"I tried to tell Gibbs that, but he wouldn't listen," I told Tim, I went back to the living room, and shook Eric, "Get up, we have to go."

"Why?" he asked.

"Orders," I Grabbed my jacket, and pulled it on, I opened the bag with my things in it, and pulled out my second gun, putting it in my waist band. There was a thud, above us, in the attic, "get your gun," I told Eric, and moved towards the bedroom, Tim was standing at the closet door, shoving some things in a bag. "Where's your attic door?" I asked.

"Hall closet, why?" he looked at me.

I didn't respond, just left the room, and drew my gun, Eric came up beside me, "Stay with Tim," I whispered to him, and grabbed a footstool, in the closet, I pushed the attic door open, and looked up, there was a pull down ladder, I pulled it, and climbed up. "I am me, who am I? I am me, who am I?" There was a moaning, coming from the corner, I looked over, and pointed my gun at him, "I'd ask who you are, but you're asking yourself that, What's your name?"

"All I wanted was for you to know my name," he yelled, and charged me.

I had two choices, let him hit me, and fall, and probably die, or shoot him, I chose the third, to step out of his way, he fell head first, through the trap door, and I jumped down behind him, cuffing him. He rolled himself over, as soon as the cuffs were tight, "Why, Nick, why, you and I, we were so close,"

"I'm not Nick, who are you?" I asked, "What were you doing in the attic?"

"I was looking for Nick, have you seen Nick?" he asked.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"Nigel Crane," Eric said, from behind me, startling me, "A friend from Vegas told me about him, he escaped from the psychiatric ward, recently, they didn't know where he went, so they called me, in case he came to Miami."

I groaned, not only did we have a prisoner now, but we still had to get to the lab, somehow. I pulled out my cell phone, and hit the one memory key, I didn't think I would ever need again, when I joined NCIS. There was a noncommital touch tone message, I had long since memorized what numbers were for what major cities, I hit Miami's code, it was answered by a car rental company, I used old codes, hoping that they would still be good. "I requested a moving van, for an hour and a half ago, it's not here," I told the man.

"I'm sorry sir, I have no record of that," The man replied.

"I have a receipt here, it was paid for by my friend, Speedle," I told him.

"What are you doing?" Tim asked me.

"He used to be an FBI agent," Eric replied.

"Used to be?" Tim asked.

"He joined NCIS almost three years ago, because he discovered the FBI was discriminating against him, whenever he was up for a promotion," Eric told him.

I finally got through the codes, and had the van on it's way, I hadn't realized, being on the other end, what it was like, to need to move someone fast, and having to go through the long code, to get some backup. "Backup's on it's way," I told them, "let's be ready."

"What about him?" Tim pointed to the mumbling guy in handcuffs.

"The FBI takes him back to Vegas, where he's going to go back to the psych hospital, he'll be charged with home invasion here, if it will keep him locked up longer, but if someone called to tell Eric this guy was loose, my guess, is he did something that will keep him locked up for most of the rest of his life." I told Tim.

We all sat in the living room, Tim, and Eric were arguing over the tv channel, but I sat alert, watching the front door, I had never been on this side of things, the waiting, was harsh, I was used to assembling the team, loading eight men into three cars, or vans, depending on the situation, and getting to the location.

At the location, I'd go up to the Sniper's position, in most cases, but occasionally, I'd be part of the entry team, go in, get the witness, and get out, with someone watching my back. I knew what was supposed to go down, I heard a car pull up, and a door slam, that meant a single occupant, I stood up, and walked to the door, looking through the peephole, I saw a man in a grey suit walking up the driveway, he was unfamiliar to me. A neighbour ran up to him, and they talked for a little while.

Horatio's POV

I was walking up to Tim's house, neither him or Eric had shown up for work, Eric wasn't at home, either, but his car was in the drive. One of Tim's next door neighbours came up to me, "Mr Caine," the man looked at the house, "I saw a couple of men, go into Tim's house, late last night, early this morning, I was trimming my side of the hedge, when I heard a thud inside, I don't know what happened, but I'm kind of worried, and to scared to approach, one of the guys looked pretty tough, the other looked kind of, scared."

I nodded, and told him to wait out of sight, with his cell phone, if something happened.

I walked up to the door, and rang the bell, "Tim, do you recognize this guy?" a strange voice asked.

There were footsteps inside, and Tim's voice, "Yeah, he's our boss, let him in," the footsteps moved away from the door, a minute later, the door opened, I was pulled in, and the door closed behind me, someone pushed me into the living room, Tim and Eric were there, and some guy was sitting on the floor, rocking, his hands cuffed behind his back. "Who's he," I asked.

"Which one?" Eric asked.

"The guy who looks ready to shoot someone," I said.

"Oh, that's Tony DiNozzo," Tim said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Special Agent Tony DiNozzo," he said, flashing a badge, to quick for me to catch an agency name, but it reminded me of the FBI.

I sat down on the couch, and asked, "What's going on here?"

"There's a murderer after two men, that my team is protecting, one of them is Tim," DiNozzo said.

"And the other?" I asked.

"He's in Las Vegas," DiNozzo said.

"And there's only one team protecting them?"

"Not by choice, trust me," DiNozzo sat on the armrest, further from me, Eric sat on his side of the couch, and Tim in the chair.

We just sat there, silent, I jumped, when a cell phone rang, Eric answered, after the second ring, DiNozzo seemed to be in his own little world. "Hold on," Eric held the phone in front of DiNozzo, who took it silently. "Tony here."

A minute later, he hung up, and turned to Eric, "I need to talk to you."

A/N: I origanally posted this chapter a couple days ago, but now, my computer died, I had just started chapter 17 and was working on finishing touches for 16, when it began to malfunction, I know i have to the end of 15 backed up, but i can't even access those files from my mom's computer to check, b/c her USB port is blocked. I'm ready to cry, if in order to fix my computer i lose all my files, i lose overa week's worth of writing, and other things, including homework. I'm hoping beyond all hope, that doesn't happen, b/c that's just not cool. N/E way, as stands, until my computer is fixed, which may not be for awhile.


	4. Chapter 4

In celebration of my computer returning to me, here's an update, YAY I'm so happy, i can write again, and take notes at school which I can actually read, well, here it is.

Tony's POV

I led Eric to the bedroom, and he gave me a funny look, "what is it?"

"Gibbs wants me to take Tim to meet up with Kate in Vegas, rather than sit here in Miami and wait, for this guy to find us, I don't want to leave you, unless I know you're going to be alright, if you want, I can set up for Tim and someone else you trust, to go to Vegas, and I'll stay," I told him.

"No matter how much I don't like the thought of you going into danger, by escorting Tim, I know you have to, the sooner you catch this guy, the sooner you can come home," Eric said.

"Eric, this guy eluded Gibbs for twenty years, he's getting tired, but he's still cunning, Gibbs told me, that he left a message, for the police, in his hotel room, in Vegas, 'The first will be next, and the last will be the first."

"He's finishing this," Eric smiled.

"Yes, but if he doesn't find Tim here, I'm afraid that he'll kill someone else, here, just to scare them, and I'm afraid that he may choose to kill someone close to Tim," I wasn't trying to scare Eric, but I was, at the same time.

"What are you saying?"

"There is no proof of it, but rumours went around, a few years ago, about how he chose his victims, most of the ones I've heard of, were gay and, I saw some pictures, accidentally, he goes after people that look alike, about half of them look a fair amount like Tim, even remotely, you fit his profile, and I don't think I could bare it, if something happened to you," I said.

"I'll be careful," Eric said.

"I know you will, but Eric, this guy is good, if he doesn't find Tim, chances are he'll go after you, if he does, I want you more that just playing it safe, I want you to have protection," I pulled the gun out from behind my back, and handed it to him.

"I can't take your gun," Eric said.

"I've still got one with me, and I'll call Abby, get her to send my hard case down to Vegas," I told him.

"Tony, I'm scared, not for me, but for you, you look like this killer's other victims, he may just go after you," Eric replied.

"I've got a plan, come on, I'll explain it to everyone," I said, going back to the living room.

I sat back on the arm of the couch, and Eric sat next to me, "I've got a plan, Gibbs got Tim and I a flight out of Miami, but if we're going to make the flight we can't wait for the FBI team, Horatio, I want you to take Tim to the airport, where he'll get on the flight, whether or not I'm there, I'll leave ten minutes before you, with Eric, Eric and I look enough like his victims, that he may think we're the ones he's after, leaving an opening for Tim to get to the Airport,"

"And if that doesn't work?" Tim asked.

"You're both good shots, right?" I said.

"If it does work, if he does follow you, and catches you, what then?" Tim asked.

"We've both got guns, we're both good shots, but I don't plan to let him catch us," I smiled.

"How do you plan to evade him, if he thinks you're the ones he's after?" Horatio asked.

"We're going to be driving Eric's SUV, and we've worked on it a lot, over the last few years."

"You've souped up a company vehicle?" Horatio said.

"It's got bullet proof glass, an extra piece of metal plating, so no one can shoot out the engine, and a slight addition in speed capability," I told him, "Nothing real major."

"Bullet proof glass, isn't major, why?"

"That would be my job, I work for NCIS, someone who was in the Navy, and mad at me would know how to use a gun, I wouldn't want them to take out their anger on my best friend, as he drives down the road."

"And what about protecting Eric, after you leave him at the airport?"

"Well, that is where you come in again, before Tim checks in, I need him to change clothes, leaving what he's wearing now, for Eric, I want you to keep that, if we take a little longer, getting to the airport, than planned,"

"We'll go straight to the lab after, where I can change into something else I own, and go on with work," Eric said.

Eric and I left, I took notice of the cars in the area, as I got into the drivers seat, and drove away. I drove directly to the lab, "Tony, what are we doing here?" Eric asked.

"I'm dropping you off, if the killer thinks you're Tim, then he'll see you go into the police station, and you'll be safe, he'll probably go back to Vegas, where he'll be arrested upon detection, and they'll be watching."

"Can we be watching for this guy too?" Eric asked, "Or does Vegas get all the credit."

"Call Gibbs, his number is second on my speed dial," I handed Eric my phone.

Eric got off the phone, after talking to Gibbs for a minute, and handed it to me, "Call me, when you get to Vegas, I want to know you guys got there safe."

Eric got out of the car, as I put the phone to my ear. "Tony, where is Tim?"

"We're both on our way to the airport, right now," I told him.

"But..."

"I wanted to protect Eric, by dropping him off first," I told Gibbs.

"Protecting friends should not put the person you're supposed to protect at risk," Gibbs said.

"I'm not putting him at risk, we'll be on the plane," I said.

"Alright, get to the airport, get on that plane," Gibbs said.

"K, Gibbs, is Abby there, I need to ask a favour of her,"

"Hold on," Gibbs said, a second later, Abby's happy voice came over the line.

"What can I do for you, Tony?" she asked.

"I need you to go to my apartment, and get a black case from the bedroom closet, it's got a lock and the keys are in the fire safe, the keys for that are in the bedside drawer, I would like the case, sent to Vegas, there is money, and papers to fly it out in the safe deposit box as well, would you do that for me?" I asked her.

"Of course, Tony, but why?" she asked.

"The case is a gun case, I'll be forever grateful, there is a prepaid slip, that should get it on any plane without problems, you'll need to show the papers, but don't send them along, I've got copies with me," I told her, pulling away from the crime lab.

"Alright Tony, I'll try to get it on a flight that gets in around the time your flight does," Abby had a smile in her voice.

I hung up with Abby, when I pulled up at the airport, I went in, and checked in, Horatio was waiting for me, near the security checkpoint, "I was afraid I was right about the killer, I dropped Eric off at the lab, to keep him safe, I couldn't tell you, because he may trust you, but I don't," I said, before heading through security, with little to no hassle. As soon as they saw my badge.

I settled in next to Eric on the plane, and he said, "I was afraid you wouldn't make it."

"You weren't afraid, you don't know me, so you don't really care," I told him.

"You're very cynical, you know that?" Tim replied.

"I tend to be, yes," I glanced at him.

We didn't speak again, until the plane was in the air, when Tim said, "You and Eric are closer than you say you are,"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you wanted to protect him more than your duty tells you that you have to protect me."

"Tim, you're very perceptive, that's probably why you make such a good CSI, yes, Eric and I have known each other a long time, I moved in with his family, when I was fifteen."

"You're the same age as him, then?" Tim asked.

"A year older, actually, he got mad at his mom that year, and ran away, I found him, in one of my hangouts," I replied, "Convinced him to go home."

"Really?" Tim said.

"Yeah, just don't tell Eric I told you that," I replied.

Tim and I spent the rest of the flight trading stories about Eric, and laughing. When the plane landed, we got our bags, and I led him to the security desk, where we were supposed to pick up our guns. There was no problem picking up our handguns, as we both had all the appropriate paperwork, but when I put the paperwork down for my rifle, I the woman said, "I'm going to need you to produce the rest of the paperwork," She said.

"I've never had a problem with this gun before, carrying all the papers for all my guns is not feasible so I carry the ones that allow me to get them through security at the airport, if I need them sent to me," I told her.

"Tony, why do you need another gun?" Tim asked.

"Because, it's part of my job to protect you, and this gun is different from the ones I carry on a daily basis, it's more accurate, at a long range."

I pulled out my ID, and showed the woman my badge, I didn't want to, but she was giving me a hard time, and I didn't have the energy to deal with it right then. "I work for NCIS, please don't aggravate an already difficult situation," I told her.

"If you have the keys for the weapon case, I'll let you have it with the paperwork you have."

I pulled out a ring of keys, from my duffle bag, and flipped through them for the right one, then I had to wait for her to get the case. "What's the point of this second gun, in fact, didn't you have two in Miami?" Tim asked.

"Like I said, this gun is different, and I left one of my guns with Eric, department issue guns are prone to getting jammed at inopportune moments, and I'd rather that not happen to Eric."

Eric's POV

I walked into the lab proper, from the locker room, Calleigh was standing in the doorway, of the trace lab. "Hey, Eric, where's Tim, I was hoping he would help me with some trace evidence, on my newest case."

"He had to go somewhere, he'll be gone for a couple days at least," I told her.

"How do you know this?"

"I was at his place before he left, that's why I'm so late."

"Maybe you can help me, this is confusing me, I don't quite get trace as well as ballistics," Calleigh told me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"These fibres, I can't quite figure out what they are."

"Let's take a look," I smiled.

I looked in the microscope, Calleigh stood beside me, "Where are the results, from the tests?" I asked, adjusting the focus a little bit.

"Right here," Calleigh sounded proud.

I checked the printout, and was pretty sure about my thoughts, but pulled a reference book, to be sure, "Yup, Calleigh, your fibres are angora."

"How did you do that so fast?" she asked.

"Experience," I smiled.

I went to leave the room, when she said, "You got a new gun?"

"How did you do that so fast?" I replied.

"Experience. Where did you get it?" she asked, "It's not standard issue."

"A friend wanted me to carry it, additional protection," I told her.

"A friend?"

"He wanted to ensure I was protected."

"Who is he?" She asked.

"A longtime friend, he wants me to carry a better gun, because he's worried that someone his boss has been trying to catch for years is going to go after me, because I look like his typical victim."

"But he was just fine with you carrying a standard issue gun before?"

"There was no proof, that he was in the area, now there was, I only look slightly like the typical victim, Tim fits the profile exactly, since Tim is friends with the guy who's in charge of the investigation, when there was proof that the guy was in the area, my friend, Tony, was asked to get Tim to a safe place, he wanted to bring me, but there was no way that he could get permission to bring me too, and he couldn't just send Tim and I away, and stay himself."

I went into H's office, Calliegh going into one of the layout rooms. Horatio came into his office not long later, and gave me a look, that told me he didn't appreciate being out of the loop. "I didn't even know, H, he stopped here, and told me I'd be safer here, than going from the airport back here, that you and Tim would be safer too, and it's Tony, the one person I trust more than I trust you."


	5. Chapter 5: Explosion

Well, here it is, the next chapter, someone asked to learn more about Eric and Tony's history, and I'm trying to write a back story for them, I'll post it eventually, when i finish it.

I don't own it, i don't get money for this, so don't sue me.

Nick's POV

I was standing in the layout room, Kate sitting across the table, Grissom had left, helping Warrick with part of his case, Kate and I were going over the evidence, she was comparing my pictures with the ones from the case files Gibbs had sent. "Have you found something, you've been staring at those two pictures for five minutes."

"It's just this spot, right here, seems strange," Kate said.

I moved over to where she was, and looking over her shoulder, saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Kate, what's up?"

I jumped, but Kate just turned around slowly. "Hey Tony, what took you so long?" she asked.

"Problems with airport security," the guy said, I recognized him from one of Gibbs' photo albums.

"I'm Nick," I said.

"Nice to meet you, this is Tim, and Kate, I'll be outside," he said, that's when I first noticed what he was carrying, a large duffle bag was on the floor inside the door, a smaller one beside it, and Tony had a rifle case on his back.

"What are you carrying?" Kate asked.

Tony got a guilty look on his face, "It's a little extra protection I had Abby send from home," the sound of laughter drifted in from the hall, "Real mature," Tony called.

"I thought so," Greg's voice drifted in.

Tony moved to the side, and Greg pushed his way into the room.

"What's going on here, why's everyone congregating?" Sara asked, from outside the door, "did someone get hurt?"

"No one's hurt," Kate called.

"Let me in," Sara said, and Tony moved aside, again, "Why is everyone congregating, Sara, you have a case, Greg, get back to your lab, you're not on break, and who are these extra people?"

"Tony DiNozzo, NCIS, and Tim Speedle from Miami-Dade crime lab, we're here for his protection, I'll help keep an eye out for Nick's protection as well."

"How does anyone know what's going on, if no one tells me what's going on?" Grissom asked.

"We don't have full information, but I think Tony has an update," Kate said.

"I do, I was driving to the airport, from the Miami crime lab, and a man fired six shots into the side of the jeep, and five into the rear, I suggested Eric might want to leave it at the airport, until this guy is caught, it was definitely our guy."

"You didn't call it in?" Grissom asked.

"I did, and that may not help much, I know it was our guy, the problem being, he was behind a tree, I slowed down, but didn't notice any vehicles parked nearby, he probably got into a car, and drove away."

"You pick up on a lot, but you didn't stay?"

"A man was shooting at me, probably for looking like him, of course I left," Tony pointed at me.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"Almost half his victims, that I know about, look like you, the other half look like him," Tony motioned to Tim, "I left someone, in Miami, against my will, I didn't want him to stay there, because he looks a fair amount like Tim, and I only look a little like Nick here, and I got shot at, connecting the dots, I think he's either here, or still in Miami, looking for Tim there, and I think that he may believe that Eric is Tim,"

"And the point of this is?"

"I wanted to draw the killer away from Eric, the purpose of Tim going to the airport separately, was for him to be protected, I wasn't planning on making the flight, that's why I was going slow, but then I thought, that if he thought I survived, he'd follow me, so I left, I'm not so sure that was a good idea, but I want more to protect my friends, than to protect myself."

"Messed up priorities, don't you think?" Warrick's voice came from the hall.

Tony turned, and glared at Warrick, "do I know you?"

"Tony, Warrick Brown, Warrick, Tony DiNozzo," I replied.

Tony's POV

I was meeting all new people, and was getting a little jumpy, wanting to talk to Eric again. We were grouped together after Warrick was kicked out, going over the evidence, at about noon, both Kate and I were ready to fall asleep, Tim and Nick however seemed to have endless energy, Greg came by, when he left, suggesting that Nick get some sleep, a suggestion which was ignored, I sat on a stool, next to Kate, looking at file, after file, that had come from the FBI, suggesting where this guy might go. "Kate, there is a cubby under that bench, you look like you haven't slept since you got here, go on, take a nap, I'll keep watch."

"Thanks, Tony, but I'm fine," she replied.

"Kate, even I've slept since Gibbs sent us out, I got about six or seven hours, but I know you haven't, go on, lay down."

Kate did as I suggested, without another word, I turned back to the files, "Who's in our lab?" a strange and angry voice caused my hand to drop to my weapon.

"Ecklie, they're here on assignment, Tony DiNozzo, from NCIS, and Tim Speedle is from Miami Crime Lab." Nick glanced at Kate, but obviously decided not to mention her.

"And who's that sleeping, in the lab?"

"That's my partner, Kate," I told him, "She hasn't slept since oh-four hundred yesterday, you wake her up, and I'm sure I'm a better CSI than anyone on your team, and no one would ever find you."

Nick snickered, as the Ecklie guy turned, and marched out. "I've never seen him give like that, how did you do that?"

"Do What?" I asked.

"I'm not sure whether you sounded more like a mob boss, or military, but you actually scared him, even if just a little."

"I've got some experience in the military business, I do interrogate witnesses, sometimes, and they cooperate better when they think you are a superior officer."

I jumped, when my cell rang, "DiNozzo."

"Hey, Tony, where's my car?" it was Eric.

"Didn't I ask you to stay away from the airport?" I asked.

"I want my car, Tony, I was going to ask Calleigh to pick it up for me."

"No one goes near that car, until I know this guy isn't in Miami, he knows the car, and he may look for it."

"Everyone he's after is in Las Vegas, why would he be in Miami?"

"Eric, I'm just trying to protect you," I told him.

Omniscient POV

"You're just trying to protect me? I can take care of myself, Tony," Eric said.

Tony slipped out of the layout room, and lowered his head, as he talked, he looked back through the window, at the guys working, "Eric, I didn't mean it like that, I know you can take care of yourself, but I worry, I've always worried about you."

"Why, because I'm younger?"

"Eric, I've fought for everything I've had since I was twelve, ok, now that things are given to me, with a lot less fighting, I expect it to go to shit, at any moment."

Greg walked down the hall, on the other side of the room, Ecklie's office was between the room, and the hallway he was in, there was a ticking, from the desk, he was right out the door, when the ticking stopped, there was a sharp scent, for a second, then **"BOOM"** All four walls of the office moved out, the force of the blast, not slowed by cement, carried Greg, sideways through the single Glass wall of the layout room, on the other side of the office, the cement wall threw Tim and Nick to the ground, the force of the blast threw glass into Tony, and Tony into the wall opposite, sending him through the bullet proof glass, of the ballistics lab. "Tony, Tony, talk to me, what's going on?" surprisingly, the cell phone still worked.

There were running footsteps, down both hallways, from the reception area, and from the labs. Voices started to call Nick's name, and Greg's as soon as they realized he'd been around too, when the explosion happened. Paramedics, and firefighters were let into the building, and they began to move among the rubble. Greg, Kate, Nick and Tim were the first ones taken care of, Tony rolled over, from where he lay, causing one of the Paramedics to jump, "I've got another one over here," He called.

Another paramedic came over, and they checked Tony over, he was loaded up into an ambulance, and taken to the hospital. "Grissom, this is the second time the lab has been blown up on your shift," The sheriff walked up to Grissom.

"I've got two of my men, one man from Miami who was here consulting on a serial killer case, which our evidence is gone from, leaving only FBI evidence to work with, and Two federal employees who were here protecting the guy from Miami and one of our own, all in the hospital, I'll put Cath and Warrick on the explosion." Grissom replied.

"Nick and Sara too," the Sheriff said.

"No can do, Sara is on leave, and Nick is in the hospital, I'm going to head to the hospital, and see what I can find out about my team," Grissom said.


	6. Chapter 6: Injuries

Here you go, another Chapter, I'm planning on posting again in a day or two, just see what happens with school, here is the chapter where we find out what happens, this also has at least one element of the paranormal, if i'm not mistaken about the timing, I'm trying, soon, there will be slash, just a warning, and at near the same time, there will be mpreg, i've finally managed to write one that doesnt' suck. Obviously, this is AU, there was never a bomb in the lab for the show, and well, more that happens soon would never happen, they explore the paranormal, they don't become it. I'm just about to finish a really long chapter, it could almost be two, but they are to closely tied together. Well, that's it, long author notes now the story.

I don't own it, remember that, I DON'T OWN CSI alright, on to the story.

Chapter 6: Injuries

Grissom's POV

I told Cath and Warrick to start processing the scene, and I'd call them, when I knew anything. At the hospital, I let it be known that I was there, the nurse at the desk gave me a stack of papers, "Fill out what you know on them, see what you can find out for us, a doctor will find you when they have a moment."

I filled out Nick and Greg's from the files I had taken from my office, before attempting to tackle the other three, finally I gave up, and Dialled Horatio's number, I hadn't spoken to the man since a month after his brother had been killed, but knew it was the only way I would get the information, and he had to be told anyway. "Hello Grissom, I haven't seen this number in a while." he wasn't happy to hear from me.

"Horatio, this isn't a social call, one of your CSI's came to Vegas, about a case, I'm not sure if you sent him, or not, but he's here, my lab exploded, he just happened to be in the damaged part of the lab, I need to get information to give the doctors on him."

"You let someone blow up your lab?"

"I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm just glad it happened on my shift, the epicentre seems to be my daytime counterpart's office."

Horatio answered all the questions from a file, when I was done, filling out the forms, I flipped to the other two, "You wouldn't happen to know a Tony DiNozzo, or a Kate Todd, would you?"

"I don't know DiNozzo, but one of my team does, hold on, and I'll get him for you."

"Mr. Grissom, what happened to Tony, I was talking to him, there was the sound of an explosion, and he didn't answer me after that," a new voice came over the phone.

"You were on the phone with him, at the time of the explosion, did he mention anything strange?"

"No, we were in the middle of an argument, even if he had noticed, he wouldn't have said anything right then."

I asked Eric the questions from the forms, and he answered them willingly, then he offered me the number for Tony's work, so I could get Kate's medical history. I had just hung up with Eric, when the doctor walked into the waiting area. "Who's here for Tony DiNozzo?" he asked.

"I am," I stood up, looking down at the notepad, to make sure the number was there, as it should be.

"Alright, Tony has a lot of cuts and scrapes, mainly on his left side, but also on his right, those are deeper, and aggravated by the burns he received, his right shoulder is dislocated, his left arm was broken, in three places, his left leg is broken in two places, most of the ribs on his left side were cracked or broken, on the right, only two ribs were left intact."

"When can I see him?" I asked.

"He's being brought upstairs, once his injuries have been taken care of," The doctor said, "I'll have one of the Nurses give you his room number then."

I nodded, and went back to my seat, I pulled my cell phone out, and called the NCIS lab. "Tony's desk," the voice on the other end sounded bewildered.

"Tony's desk? I didn't think he had a direct line, I'm calling for Special Agent Gibbs, actually."

"I'll get him," the voice replied.

I waited ten minutes, before a more mature voice answered, "Gibbs here,"

"Special Agent Gibbs, My name is Gil Grissom, I'm with the Las Vegas Crime lab, you sent an agent of yours, Kate Todd, to protect one of my CSIs,"

"Yes, Mr. Grissom, is there a problem?"

"Yeah, my lab blew up, Kate was near the epicentre of the explosion, and the nurses, in an attempt to keep me from pacing have given me forms to fill out, on everyone who was brought in from the lab, if you would be so kind as to answer some questions from her file, I would be entirely grateful."

"Alright, but first, can I ask you some questions?" Gibbs asked.

"Fire away," I told him.

"What about Tony, was he there too?"

"Tony was out in the hallway, talking on his phone, his injuries are nothing much to worry about, I got his information from his friend in Miami," I replied.

"What about Nick and Tim?"

"I don't know about them, I don't know where they were in relation to the explosion, I only know where Tony was, because He was talking to Eric, at the time, and the Doctor already came out to give me an update,"

As soon as I had filled out the last form, another Doctor came out, "Mr. Grissom, you're here with the people involved in the lab explosion?"

"That's right," I told the doctor.

"I've been taking care of Nick, since he was brought in, his left arm and leg were broken, he's got some severe burns on his left side as well, the damage was contained mainly to his left side, and he's lucky because this shouldn't aggravate the scarring he already has on his face."

"Scarring, Nick doesn't have any major scars on his face," I said.

"He must hide it well, then because there is some rather extensive scarring on the left side of his face."

"Oh, but he'll be alright?" I asked.

"Most definitely, he has a slight concussion, I don't see any reason, though that he won't be able to go home in a few days, if his burns begin to heal well."

"He'll be glad to hear it," I smiled.

I waited for another doctor to come out, it was strange, just waiting, knowing Nick, at least was upstairs. I sat, and waited, and waited, and waited. (You get the point, don't you). Until a doctor came out carrying a clip board, and a plastic bag. "Mr. Grissom, I have Greg's clothes and personal effects here for you, since he was in close proximity to the explosion," he handed me the bag. "Thank you, I'll make sure the right people get this," I said.

"Mr. Grissom, I was Greg's Doctor last time he was brought in from your lab, and I can tell you, straight out, this explosion was either bigger, or he was closer, where as last time he had Glass, embedded in his back, this time, he was hit with Metal, and not as much glass. I had to send him up to surgery to remove some of the bigger pieces of metal, but he'll be fine, besides the metal, and burns that are normal in a situation like this, Greg has a dislocated shoulder."

"Thank you, Doctor." I replied.

"When Greg's out of surgery, I told them that they'd probably find you on floor, with the rest of the people involved in the explosion."

I nodded and he left me to sit back down, and the waiting began again. It wasn't long after, that a female doctor came out, the one that had been taking care of Nick, when he was thrown out the window, in the Nigel Crane incident. "Mr. Grissom, it's nice to see you again," she started.

"I hate being here, because when I am, that means someone on my team is hurt," I told her, honestly.

"Right, ok, I'm Kate's doctor, her injuries are surprisingly minor, from what I hear about the explosion, and where she was found, and all that, most of her burns are fairly minor, first and second degree the only third degree burns are on her legs, and that's not a whole lot, she'll be fine, she's already been brought upstairs, room 349."

"Thank you doctor," I told her.

As she walked away, Sara, walked in, followed by a gothic girl. "Sara, what are you doing here?"

"I was visiting my brother, who works at NCIS in Washington, when you called there, since Gibbs was working on finding this Jason Maverick, so was his only CSI that wasn't in your lab, so he sent Abby here, to make sure the other two were okay, my brother was busy, working, so I decided to fly back, and see if there was anything I could do."

"No, but Nick's upstairs, I have to wait, to hear about Tim."

"Anything about Kate, or Tony?" the gothic girl asked

"Tony should be upstairs by now, Kate is in room 349," I told her.

"Thanks," they walked off. I was waiting for only about five more minutes, before the doors opened again, and a young man, with tanned skin walked in, I only noticed him, because he was wearing a t-shirt, with a printed badge on it, underneath the badge was written 'Miami-Dade PD'

"You must be Eric," I said, walking up to him.

He nodded, "How did you know?"

"Your shirt gave you away, I know H, and you and Tim are the only other guys there," I replied.

"Right, so Where's Tim?" he asked.

"His doctor hasn't come out yet, come sit, I have no clue what's up with him."

"Do you think the length of time is a bad thing?" Eric asked after five minutes of silence.

"The first doctor out had the worst news for me, so Tim's probably chatting up some hot doctor, and just forgot someone's waiting." I told him.

Eric and I both laughed at that, but stopped short, when a doctor walked up, with a serious look on his face. "Mr. Grissom?" he asked.

"That's me, this is Eric Delco, he works with Tim."

"Alright, I've got good news, and bad news, which do you want first?"

"Good news," Eric said, at the same time as I said "bad news."

"Good news first, just because you can't agree," the doctor seemed to have a sense of humour.

"Alright," I said.

"Tim will be fine, his burns are mainly first degree, he took quite a blow to the head, but that shouldn't leave any permanent damage, just a concussion, we were talking for awhile, there is only one type of lasting damage from this incident, and it might not even be permanent, Tim told me he was leaning against a table, at the time of the explosion, that threw him back over the table, he broke his back, doing some damage to his spinal chord, the good news on that, is the damage is low down, low enough, that only his legs seem to be affected."

"Can we see him?" Eric asked.

"Yes, I've sent him up to the third floor, he's in room 347," the doctor said.

"Thank you doctor," I said, Eric repeated the sentiment, and we went to the elevator. On the third floor, it didn't take long to find the room, I knew my way around, the third floor was where my team always ended up upon getting injured.

The door was open, and I poked my head in, Nick was sitting up in the first bed, Sara next to it, the curtain was pulled down the middle of the room, "Tim's asleep," he told me.

"Nice to know, Nick, this is Eric, he's from Miami, Eric, this is Nick and Sara," I did the introductions.

"We're just sharing childhood injury stories, got any good ones, Eric?" Nick asked.

"Not really, not since I was sixteen, and crashed Tony's first bike."

"A motor bike?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I was only going forty, he still teases me about my 'need for speed' because I crashed it into the ditch, didn't trash it, or I don't think he'd even take me out on one again, but I broke my leg, nothing major."

They all chatted for awhile, and I got bored, so I got up, figuring I would check on Greg, and Tony. I went to the nurses station, and the nurse there told me that they were both in the same room, I headed to the room. "Hey, Griss," unlike Nick's perky attitude, Greg sounded as tired as he looked.

"Hey Greg, how are you?" I asked.

"I hurt, who's investigating the explosion?"

"I put Cath and Warrick on it, they're usually pretty good at that sort of thing, though I wish I could put Nick on it, he's the closest we have to an explosives expert."

"I know, how is he?"

"Good, he'll probably be first out, but he won't be back at work for awhile, he's got a couple broken bones."

"What about Tony, Kate, and Tim?"

"Kate is fine, surprisingly no broken bones, or dislocated joints, just burns, and Tony is on the other side of that curtain, you can ask him yourself." I replied.

"What about Tim?" Tony's voice came from the other side of the curtain.

I slid the curtain back to reveal Greg's roommate, not that Greg could see him, he was once again stuck in the same position as after the first lab explosion, though he wasn't as groggy. "Griss, would you help me onto my other side, my arm is asleep, and I don't want to bother a nurse."

I couldn't help but smile at Greg, I had spent hours at his side, during the week he was in the hospital, the last time, and the nurses had shown me how to help him turn then. I supported him under his legs, while he lifted his upper body, he turned in one fairly smooth motion, and he didn't even scream. "I'm surprised you were comfortable doing that," a nurse said, "I was just coming in to do just that."

"Greg's been injured similarly in the past, it's easy enough to do," I replied.

"Alright, thank you," she said, and walked out.

"She isn't very good at it," Greg said, in a half whisper, looking at me.

"You should be nice, she could cut off your pain medication."

"Already done that, at my request, I've got two extra strength Tylenol waiting four hours, for the stronger ones to work their way sufficiently out of my system,"

"The joys of being an educated burn victim?" Tony asked.

"The joys of hating what the other stuff does to his brain," I replied.

"Griss, you are good at hiding stuff, but I hope you didn't leave that detail off my forms." Greg said.

"I put it on as an allergy, if it goes on as it is, I'd be forced to put you on suspension, and it's being dealt with, just like the other problems on the team, no need for a suspension."

"You suspended Sara."

"Difference being Sara was caught by uniforms, you were caught trying to stop," I basically ended the conversation with that.

I sat in the chair next to Greg's head, as we talked, it was light conversation between the three of us, until Catherine came in. "I need to talk to Tony, then Greg, then you Grissom."

I nodded, and Catherine pulled the curtain, Greg and I basically sat there in silence, listening to Catherine ask Tony Questions about the explosion.

that's all for now, but, i'm plugging a friend's story, and you'll have to live with that, Scottthespy, she is my friend, but she is a good writer, read her story. It's funny, it's a vampire one, but it's funny, she's insane with how she writes, I love it.


	7. Chapter 7: What happened

I don't own CSI, any of them, or NCIS, WAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, but i do take credit for the disclaimer in Scottthespy's story 'my meeting with death' chapter ten, that was my idea, but i told her, so I couldn't use it, one of my few creative disclaimers, figgers

Why is it that people give me good ideas after I've written ahead, and for some reason I didn't even get it before i first posted chapter 7, so here's a new version of chapter seven thanx krys, now i just wish i wasn't so far ahead, or i would hurt Nick more, Tony's already pretty much screwed, so i'd leave him alone

NE way, there is no way for me to put ne thing interesting here, so i'll stop. buh bye

Tony's POV

"What happened before the explosion? Did you notice anything strange?" Catherine asked me.

"Nothing strange to me, I was on the phone with Eric, and had gone into the hallway, I tend to get a bit loud, when Eric and I argue, and I didn't want to wake Kate up."

"What weapons did you have with you?" she asked.

"I had a side arm, in a kidney holster, and just inside the room was a rifle, I wasn't sure if we'd end up staying at the lab, or going to Nick's house so they could sleep, but if we were going to Nick's then I was going to create a sniper's nest, to watch the house."

"So you're a firearms expert?"

"In a generalized sense of firearms."

"Meaning?"

"I know a fair amount about anything that goes boom."

"So you know how to make a bomb?"

"It's not hard, EOD would deal with any bombs we come in contact with at work, though."

"Do you prefer a specific kind of bomb?"

"Yeah, the prepackaged kind, that are predictable, not so likely to hurt someone, EOD or a bomb squad can change them to duds, without the guess work."

"Your file, was sent to the lab, you used to be a police officer, but you left, why?"

"I got an offer I couldn't refuse, two, almost three years ago, from my current boss,"

"How come you couldn't refuse?"

"Because I would have access to the long distance firing range on any Navy base I was nearest to."

"And that meant something to you?"

"The firing ranges FBI snipers get after they graduate from Quantico are crap, I joined the police force, because I might get a chance at SWAT which means I'd have access to a decent firing range, whenever I wanted, as it was, I could get in once a month, to fire a few rounds, and keep in practice, for competitions, and that was it."

I answered the rest of her questions, she was almost treating me like a suspect. "Ma'am, may I speak freely?" I asked

"I'm not in the army,"

"Neither am I, but it's a courtesy I picked up as a child, If I wanted to blow up your lab, I wouldn't let myself be in it, at the time, ok, if you find enough components, I could probably build a good replica, but I didn't build whatever blew up the lab."

She nodded, and moved to the other side of the curtain, "Griss, can I talk to Greg, now?"

"Yeah, sure," He said.

"Greg, what do you remember from the explosion?"

"I was walking down the hallway, around Ecklie's office, he had come by the lab half an hour before, with a man following him, the man told me, ten minutes later, that Ecklie wanted to me meet him in his office, when I went he wasn't there, so I kept walking, no one wants to be seen waiting in Ecklie's office," Greg said.

"He told you to be at his office at the time of the explosion, did you notice anything, that didn't fit?" Catherine asked.

"No, wait, there was a package in birthday wrapping paper, Ecklie asked me a week ago, what a fifteen year old boy would want for his birthday, so maybe it isn't so weird, I don't know,"

"Did you hear, or maybe smell something, when you walked by?"

"Right before the explosion, I smelled something it was a sharp smell, though I don't know what, then it gets fuzzy, a wall of fire, meets a wall of water, the water breaks."

"The smell, I understand, the fire, but water?"

"Water shatters, pain, can't breathe," Greg said.

"Oh, you're talking about the Glass," there was a pause, then "Alright, thank you, Greg, I'll talk to you later, let you get some sleep."

Catherine's POV

(I don't know anything about bombs, or if this is even possible, but I wanted it to be this way, so this is the way it will be.)

I went out of the room, to talk to Grissom, "Griss, we've confirmed it, it was a bomb, I wish we had Nick to help on this one, he's good at piecing bombs back together," I told him.

"What did Greg have to say?"

"He's pretty out of it, he started referring to the Glass he went through as water, but he did smell something, I almost expected it, that's all he noticed before the first explosion too."

"Did he say what he was doing in the hallway, I thought he was in the lab."

"Ecklie wanted to see him, apparently, he went to his office, but he wasn't there, and Greg kept walking."

"He remembers different than most, so where was the bomb?"

"Well, it would have to be Ecklie's office, Greg said there was a birthday present in there, the only thing he noticed that didn't quite fit, though it did, because Ecklie asked him about a fifteen year old's birthday present a week ago."

"What about Nick, and the others, anything else give you a clue?"

"Tim gave me something, he was conscious, the whole time, the wall blew out, into Ecklie's office first, which tells me, the explosive was covered on three sides with something strong, the blast pulled the wall out of place, and then it went towards them, he took the blow to the head then, the rest he says is Fuzzy."

"Nick, nothing?"

"No, he was pretty absorbed in whatever he was working with."

"What about Kate?"

"Apparently she was sleeping under one of the work benches," Catherine replied.

"Sleeping, at the lab?" Grissom asked.

"Apparently, it's something they do on a regular basis, with a big case, they sleep under their desks, to save on travelling time."

"That's a new one, that I hope we never have to deal with," Grissom said.

I ran through the case in my mind, as I drove back to the lab, Warrick met me outside, the day shift were moving boxes out of the lab, they were moving evidence to a different lockup, to lower the risk of it being considered contaminated, since security was being compromised by the explosion. It was a hassle to work in two places, but until the lab explosion had been figured out, it was the only safe bet, Ecklie was on leave, with pay, since the bomb had been in his office, but upon finding out that he had asked Greg to be there, the chances of him getting pay until this was solved, were slim, that was definitely going to be in my report, if he had caused Greg to get hurt, and I figured he had.

"What did you get?" Warrick asked.

"Depends, Tony calls making bombs easy, Greg says that Ecklie asked to speak to him, in his office, right before the explosion, that's why he was in the hallway, Nick is frustrated that he can't help, Kate was sleeping, and Tim broke his back, but he told me that the wall was sucked in, before it blew out."

"Tim broke his back, is he going to be okay?" Warrick asked.

"His legs are paralysed, but nothing higher, at least that's what he was telling Nick, they seem to be good friends,"

"I think they were friends before, though no one in Miami mentioned Nick, while we were there."

"They're room mates, right, they might just be building a friendship."

"I don't know, whatever, how are you doing on reconstructing the bomb?"

"I wish Nick was here, he's really good at this, I need a break every hour or I go cross eyed, Nick can sit there for five, or more, and we've only just started," Warrick said.

"Well, maybe if we work together," I told him, and we went inside together.

We sat at the table in the layout room we were using, to sort through the evidence, I was sorting raw evidence, sliding bomb components across the line to Warrick, as I found them. It was a system I had used with Nick before, on big cases, when I got through the debris, four and a half hours later, Warrick was on his fifth break. I went into the break room, and sat next to him, "I have a whole new respect for Nick, you know that?" Warrick said.

"I do, you ready to head back now?" I asked.

"Yeah, Hodges get you an answer yet?" Warrick stood up.

"No, but soon, hopefully, I once again wish for some more help, not that you're not good, but..."

"Nick and Greg are better than me and Hodges, I'm not denying it." Warrick said.

"Always, in the terms of bombs, and trace, but there are other areas, that you are better than Nick, but Hodges will never compare to Greg."

"Isn't that true."

We laughed, stepping back into the layout room.


	8. Chapter 8: Distrust is a Seed Sown

here is another chapter, i'm just kinda wondering if anyone is even reading this anymore, because i haven't gotten a review in a few chapters. so yeah, let me know if it's crap, if that's what you think.

Chapter 8: Distrust is a seed sown

Tim's POV

I looked over, at Nick, where he lay, he was asleep, I knew it, the annoying thing was, I had just decided that I was going to tell him I still liked him, since Tony had left the room, and Kate was asleep, but then, the explosion. I turned my head away from Nick, to look at the window, of course, I couldn't see out of it, there were flowers, for both of us on the sill, since we were good friends. I couldn't help it, being so close to Nick, after so long, I stared at his face, memorizing every scar I could see, I wanted to reach out, and trace the marks. Twenty years is a long time, but I still felt the same for him, as the day of the attack.

There was a knock on the door, I looked over, and saw a man I had never met, that of course, didn't mean that Nick didn't know him, "Hi, which one of you is Tim Speedle?" He asked.

"Who wants to know?" I asked.

"Sorry, I'm Charles Austin, I'm a physical therapist here at the hospital, I have been assigned to help Tim deal with, and possibly even recover from his injuries."

"I'm Tim, that's Nick, if you wake him up, I'll be pissed at you," I told him.

The guy nodded, and walked across the room, he had a large bag in his hand, "I was just coming to introduce myself, the doctor will have to be here before we can do anything about therapy, though I've got a general idea, we'll make a plan with him."

Charles sat silently, for five minutes, until the doctor arrived, trailed by a nurse.

Greg's POV

I lay on my side, reminiscent of my last stay in the hospital, I had been rolled so that I was facing the door, I knew from Tony's breathing that he was asleep. The nurse came in, she had been in five times in the last two hours, "I still don't want any pain killers," I told her.

"I'm not here to give you any pain killers, I'm here to apologise, I checked your chart, you're allergic, I'm sorry,"

"Alright fine, you can leave now," I said.

Sara poked her head around the door frame, the nurse was startled. "Hey Greg," Sara said.

"Hey Sara, how is everyone else?" I asked.

"Fine, fine, Tim's already taking part in his first physiotherapist appointment."

"Really, that was fast."

"It's a good thing, sooner he participates, the sooner he get's to a point he can be independent."

"Greg, do you think that Ecklie could have planted that bomb?" She asked.

"I don't know, no one at the lab really likes him, but he's all politics, he's got a right hand woman on his team, for the forensics stuff, no he couldn't make a bomb, and I don't think he would even know where to find someone that could. He asked me last week about a birthday present for his Nephew, he likes video games, I asked him if the kid had an X-box, he asked me what an X-box is."

"You mentioned a guy with Ecklie, before the explosion," Tony said, I hadn't even noticed a change in his breathing.

"Yeah, some blonde hair blue eyed guy, had a visitor's tag, so his name would be on something at the front desk."

"Thank you Greg, I'm heading to the lab, to see what I can get."

"Isn't the explosion Cath's case?" I asked.

"She won't mind the tip."

"Whatever, Go Sara."

Sara left, shaking her head, "How long have you been awake?" I asked.

"She wakes me up every time she comes in," Tony said, probably referring to the nurse.

"Sorry, she might finally stop coming in," I told him.

Sara's POV

I pulled up in front of the lab, and walked up to the reception desk, "Hey, Sara, aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"

"I was, but I came back when I heard about the explosion," I said, "I was just talking to Greg, at the hospital, did Ecklie bring a visitor into the lab recently?"

"Let me check the log," She replied, pulling a binder across the desk, and opened it, "When are you asking about?"

"Right before the explosion, within a few hours," I asked.

She flipped through the book, "a Justin Maverick was issued a visitor's pass exactly one hour before the explosion, Ecklie signed him in, he signed out ten minutes before the explosion." The receptionist showed me the book.

"I need to take this page," I told her, she nodded, and took it out of the binder, I slid it into an evidence bag, and walked into the secure hallways of the lab, there was a construction crew, cleaning up the hallway. I walked to the layout room Catherine and Warrick were using. Catherine was standing over the table, at one end, using the microscope, Warrick had on glasses, I knew he wore contacts, but I had never seen him with the glasses. "Guys, I've got a suspect, for you." I told them.

"Who? And how, because you haven't even looked at the files, let alone the evidence?" Catherine asked.

"I talked to Greg, and he mentioned that Ecklie had someone with him, right before the explosion, we haven't seen anything of this guy, let alone Ecklie," I said.

"Ecklie is on unpaid leave, because the bomb was in his office, that's why you haven't seen him," Catherine said.

"Here's the sheet from the book, Ecklie signed a Justin Maverick into the lab, an hour before the explosion, he signed out ten minutes before the explosion."

"That coincides with Greg's official statement, thank you for getting the visitor sign in sheet," Catherine said, "Now you're on vacation, go and get some rest."

"Cath..." I said.

"Go, Sara, this is not your case."

Grissom's POV

I was walking by the layout room, and heard Sara talking, I stopped, and heard her say, "Ecklie signed Justin Maverick into the lab, an hour before the explosion..."

I waited until Sara stormed out, and Walked into the room, "Give me an update?"

"We're still trying to piece together enough of the bomb to understand the components used, Hodges hasn't gotten us back the results on what explosive was used, but as soon as he does, and we determine what timing device was used, we can build our own, to discover what the bomb was made of."

"Alright, I heard Sara say something about Ecklie signing someone in, have either of you checked this person out?"

"Not yet, we're working on the bomb."

"Well, maybe this will help, Ecklie's visitor has the same initials and last name as the guy Nick was after, I'm going to head over to Ecklie's to see what he has to say, Warrick, keep on the bomb components, if you have to, call Nick, he may not be able to be here, but he wants to be part of it, and he's good at putting bombs back together, Catherine, you're driving."

"What, I'm staying here," she said.

"No, you're driving, my case and your case just merged, when Ecklie brought my suspects sibling into the lab."

We drove at full speed to Ecklie's townhouse, I was first at the door, Catherine wasn't far behind.

"Why do you think this guy planted the bomb?"

"Because this guy, Jason Maverick wants Nick dead, I'm thinking the brother may have wanted to help him."

Ecklie answered the door, looking tired, "I was sleeping, what do you want, Grissom?"

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Who?"

"Jason and Justin Maverick." I stated.

"I know a Justin Maverick, we're friends, but I don't know a Jason Maverick."

"I need to talk to Justin," I told Ecklie.

"He's sick, he came down with something at my Nephew's birthday party yesterday."

"We still need to talk to him," Catherine said.

"Why are you harassing my friend?"

"We're not harassing him, we just want to ask him some questions," I told him.

"Fine, come in, I'll get him." Ecklie stepped back, we came in, and I watched him walk down the hall, Catherine shut the door behind us. I had expected Ecklie's house to be cleaner, it was pretty cluttered, and done in different shades of brown. There were pictures on the shelf near the door, and I stepped over to them. Most of the pictures were of Ecklie and a Blonde man, who looked a fair amount like Jason Maverick.

Ecklie came out of the bedroom, "Is that Justin," I pointed to one of the pictures.

"Yeah, he'll be out in a minute, he just wants to get some clothes on."

I nodded, and turned back to the pictures, "That one was taken last year, we were in Frisco for the weekend, we were outside a sea food place, neither of us realized it was a gay part of town until someone offered to take the picture, that's why we're laughing so hard."

"Conrad don't tell all our history." the voice came from the doorway down the hall.

"So you were at the lab two days ago, before the explosion?" I asked him.

"Yeah, we were picking up the birthday present Conrad forgot for Jeremy."

"But you forgot it anyway, Greg said it was still in your office, when he walked by, at the time of the explosion."

"No, we took it with us," Ecklie said.

"You were there almost an hour, what did you do?" Catherine asked.

"We were there for half an hour, tops," Justin said.

"The log says you signed out ten minutes before the explosion."

"No, we left pretty quick, we went to the break room, got the present, and left," Justin said.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked.

"An older brother, and a twin brother," Justin said.

Ecklie turned to him, "We've been friends twenty years, an you never told me that."

"You never asked, and it's not like they're on the right side of the law, I haven't talked to Jesse in ten years, Jason in nineteen," Justin replied.

"Have you seen either of them recently?" I asked.

"I thought I saw Jesse two days ago, at the airport, while I was waiting for Conrad to pick me up."

"So Jesse's around, maybe Jason is too," I turned to Catherine.

"Why are you asking about my brothers?" Justin asked.

"Did you speak to the DNA tech at the lab?" Catherine asked.

"No, I didn't talk to anyone."

"Is your twin your identical twin?" I asked.

"If you don't know us, you couldn't tell the difference," Justin said.

"Thank you, Justin, can we come back and ask more questions later?" I asked.

"Of course, I'll be here for a week, then I have a conference to attend in Washington, for work."

"Alright, thank you again, Justin," Catherine said, and we left, "You don't think it was him?"

"No, it wasn't him, there's never been proof that Jason works alone, just that he's good at getting away, that usually entails good planning, and usually no partner, it's easier to make mistakes, the more people are involved."

"So what do you think happened?"

"Jesse and Jason meet up somewhere, Jason mentions that he wants to get rid of his first victims, now Jesse somehow finds out that they're both at our lab, and gets lucky, Ecklie brought his twin in, no one would see anything strange about Ecklie's friend running in and grabbing something from Ecklie's office, or putting something in there."

"But why talk to Greg, he could have gotten in and out, without anyone seeing him."

"To frame Justin, the goody two shoes, he told us his brothers were on the wrong side of the law, why not go one step further, and show him what it's like to be on the wrong side."

"Distrust is a seed sown," Catherine said.

"Nick would hate us for this, treating Ecklie better than he treated Nick."

"I like to give law enforcement and their family the benefit of the doubt, even if Ecklie won't."


	9. Chapter 9: Help from all angles

I Just realised that this is the longest story i've ever written, and i've still got more written, i'm working on the 19th chapter now, so you know, there will be an ending eventually though.

I don't own CSI, however the plot line and characters i've added are my own. Chapter 19 brings in a great plot twist I love it, heeheehee. I'm loving it.

Danny's POV

"Danny, you know that case you were working on last month, the guy with the sliced up face?" My boss said.

"Yeah Boss, what about it, it went cold."

"Well, it's hot again, The guys in Miami put the word out, their guy is in Vegas, I want you to go there, check it out, see if you can help, they're thinking that the killer's brother blew up their lab, so be careful."

I nodded, and left the room, I walked out of the lab, and hailed a cab, there was a plane ticket waiting for me at the airport. I took a cab from the Vegas airport to the crime lab. "So, you're a tourist? Wanna see the lab that was blown up, to bad, you can't see anything, I've been driving people by there for two days." the cabby said.

"I'm not a tourist, I'm from New York Crime lab, just looking for closure for a victim's family," I paid the cabby as we pulled up to the lab, leaving my normal tip, "Thanks."

He looked at the cash, and shrugged, as he drove away, I walked into the lab. "How can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"My Name is Danny Messer, I'm from the New York Crime Lab, I'm looking for Gil Grissom," I said.

"What can I help our New York counterparts with?" a male voice asked from behind me.

"My boss sent me to get information on a killer, he said you'd found out what he's all about."

"Which one, we catch a lot of killers."

"He carves one side of his victim's faces, with a sharp knife," I said.

"Maverick, Jason, we just talked to his younger brother, we've got an APB out on Jason and Jesse, Jason will be arrested on sight, for breaking parole, Jesse is just wanted for questioning at this point, though if you happen to be a good sketch artist, I'll take you by the hospital so we can get him for attempted murder, at least,"

"I'm not, don't you have someone on staff?"

"No, we're calling in an outside sketch artist, our lab tech saw the guy we suspect to be the bomber, the problem is, he's got an identical twin."

"So couldn't you just use a picture of the twin?" I suggested.

"I never thought of that, Cath, why didn't we think of that?"

"You hate Ecklie, wanted to get out of his house, before you could think," the woman said.

"Alright, go back, see if you can get a picture of him, they seem to want to help, if nothing else, snap a picture of Justin right there, I want a good picture to be circulated of what Jesse probably looks like, tell Ecklie that Justin should stay inside until this is dealt with, if he's pulled in instead, of Jesse, it could end up going real bad, real fast."

"Got it," The woman left through the glass front doors.

"Come on back, we can share information," Mr. Grissom said.

I followed him through fire doors, into a long hallway, halfway down, there were burn marks on the floor and walls, "That's the office where the bomb was, the layout room where three people were working on finding Maverick was on the other side, you can see where our lab tech went through the window here, and across, you can see where a Special Agent for NCIS went through bullet proof glass, I pointed to where workers were removing the remains of the glass. "You're already doing cleanup?"

"Yeah, we need the ballistics lab, which is on the other side of the glass, can't do that until there is bullet proof safety glass separating it from the rest of the lab."

"How long do you think it will take to find these guys?"

"New leads are coming in all the time," Mr. Grissom said.

"Griss, I've got something you need to see," A black man came down the hall at a jog.

"What is it?"

"I was going cross eyed from going through the bomb components, I have no clue how Nick does it, so I turned to the other pieces, not from the bomb, but from what the bomb was in, it's only partially burned."

I followed the pair down the hall, and into a layout room, the table was covered split into four different sections, each was covered in paper, one had a large number of metal pieces, and a microscope, the others appeared to be more of a sorting area. The pair pulled on gloves upon entering the room, the black man picked something up from the table, nodding his head toward me he asked, "who's this?"

"That's Danny Messer, he's from New York, if he helps us he get's a promotion, if he just stands there, he just gets another test."

I gave him a look, and stepped up to where they were, "This is what I found," The black guy said.

Inside the folded metal was a picture, charred around the edges, but otherwise intact, it was of three young boys, they were blonde, with blue eyes, they were all smiling. I reached over to a box of gloves and pulled a pair on. The corner of the picture was curling up, revealing another piece of paper underneath. "What's that?" Mr. Grissom asked, as I peeled the picture back.

There was writing underneath, "Return our brother to the way, and yours shall live, fail, and he shall die," the black man read out.

"Who are they threatening to kill?" I asked.

"I know who the brother probably is but ours, I have no clue."

"Return our brother to the way, and yours shall live, fail, and he shall die... who has this guy threatened before?" I asked.

"Nick and Tim, I want two officers on Ecklie's place, and some protecting Nick and Tim at the hospital, if they try and get to Justin, I want to know, if they decide to just kill Nick, I want him protected."

Nick's POV

I was sitting on the side of my bed, my foot propped up on a chair Facing Tim, he was sitting up on his bed. There was a knock at the door, "Hey, you're Roger Keller, right?" he asked.

"No, I"m not, sorry," we both said, at the same time.

"You look like him," the guy said.

I turned to face him showing him the left side of my face, Tim turned his head too, "Oh, sorry, you're Roger's foster brother, Thomas?"

"Tim, actually," Tim said with a laugh, I wanted to laugh too, knowing he probably wasn't Tim at the time.

The guy left, and I turned to him, "I've never met a Roger Keller," He laughed.

"When did you start hiding them?" I asked.

"After the first move, they would have called me scar face anyway after seeing it for the first few months," Tim replied.

"I waited until I started university, I didn't see the point in hiding it, I was not willing to compromise my manliness with makeup, best thing I ever did was learn how to cover up."

We chatted, for hours, about our pasts, catching up on the last twenty years. At supper time, we got real crappy food, and I was glad to see Grissom halfway through the meal, with McDonald's "I remembered that you hated hospital food, Nick, so I brought everyone artery clogging treats."

Grissom put the bag down, on my tray table, he was about to sit in the chair, when a piercing scream erupted from outside the room, Grissom left the room, without saying a word. I reached over and took my crutch, the physiotherapist wasn't supposed to leave it, but she had looked at me, and told me that if I stayed in the room, she wouldn't take away the slight freedom the crutch allowed. "Nick, where are you going?" Tim asked.

"I'm going to see what had Grissom running at a twinge."

"What are you talking about?"

"Grissom doesn't normally react to anything like that."

I moved at the snail like pace that I was forced to maintain, due to my decision not to take any pain medications. In the hallway, I saw a nurse running into the next room down, the screaming was coming from there as well. I moved down the hall, and a nurse intercepted me "Mr. Stokes, you'll have to go back to your room,"

"What's going on in there?" I asked.

"It's ok, I'll take you back to your room," The nurse took my arm, and turned me around.

The screaming went on for another five minutes, then it slowly died off, "What was that?" I asked Tim.

"No clue, I'm stuck in this bed, can't move," Tim said.

"It was a rhetorical question," I told him.

Grissom's POV

I heard Greg's scream, and moved as fast as I could into his room, I beat the nurse in there, and lifted Greg into a sitting position his screams didn't stop right away, but then they never did. I had to be careful of the new burns on his back, but I still knew how to calm the younger man. Greg was still screaming, but his body loosened up, and he reached out for me, a sign that he would calm down momentarily. A nurse had come in, with a sedative, but I waved her off, "Drugs muddle his brain, and just make the situation worse," I told her.

"And how do you know this?" The nurse asked

"I'm Greg's physician, I prescribed sleeping pills, when this first started, but they made it worse."

"You seem close to him, for a physician."

"The only patients I have are the people who work at the crime lab, they are my team, people tend to care about the people they work with."

"Alright," the nurse sounded freaked out.

Greg's screaming slowly quieted, when he opened his eyes a couple minutes later, he took a moment to focus, and looked at me, "Water?" I picked up the cup from the side table, and held it to his lips for a drink, when he was done, he looked down, "It happened again, didn't it?"

"It did, what do you remember this time?"

"No memory, um, I saw a friend of mine, from Washington, arresting this guy, outside my apartment, can I borrow your cell phone, I need to know."

(Meanwhile in Washington) Jack's POV

We were sitting around the office, "Could this city be anymore dead, are there no cases we can be working on?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy, let's just enjoy the lull, while it lasts, because, trust me, when it rains, it pours," I said.

We sat at our desks, just doing routine paperwork, then my cell phone rang, "Jack Hudson here."

"Jack, it's Greg, I'm asking this casually so don't act alarmed, where are you?"

"At work, why do ask, Greg?" I replied, 'Casually.'

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but do you know a guy with dark hair, and a British accent?"

"No, why?"

"Wait, no, not British, lower than the normal British accent," Greg said, he sounded like he was in pain.

"Australian?" I asked.

"Yes, Australian, do you know a dark hair guy with an Australian accent?"

"Yes, but again, I ask why?"

"Jack, someone blew up my lab, and someone tried to kill some people I know, to make this easier for you to get out here, it's a federal case, cold six years, he started killing again earlier this month, two in Miami, two in Vegas, he's escalated, before he'd only kill one or two a year."

"Miami, Vegas, we're from Washington, we wouldn't even have access to any files."

"The first Victims were from Washington, Kids, living on the Naval base there, the third and fourth victim's were the first he killed, also from Washington, we recently found out who the killer is, but first, we have nothing beyond an MO that matches the attempted murders where we got the DNA from the clothing, since then, he hasn't attacked in a public place, and has been much more careful not to leave any DNA, even the next year, that was nineteen years ago."

"Alright, for you, Greg, I'll do anything." I told him.

"Thank you, Jack, you're great," Greg had a smile in his voice.

"Now, why did you want to know about my friend?"

"Because when you come to Vegas, to look at the new stuff, you should bring him, just incase you decide to trick him into exposing himself," Greg said.

"I'll get Bobby and head out there, as soon as I get everyone else going on this, But Greg, how did you know?"

"I'm sorry Jack, same reason as always, I can't tell you," Greg said.

"It's ok, Greg, I understand, thank you for calling we'll get on it," I told him.

After I hung up, Bobby asked, "What's up?"

"An old friend, calling in his version of a tip, Lucy, Tara, and Sue, I want you guys to get any case files where the killer sliced up half of the victim's face, then shot them, check the whole country, this guy's first two victims survived, the next two, were the next year, they died, he's averaged two murders a year since then, until six years ago, it seemed he had disappeared, right off the map, the case went cold, this month he's killed at least four people, maybe more, we're going to find him, Bobby, you're coming with me, to Vegas, Miles, D, you're going to Miami."

"What's going on Jack, who is this Greg guy?" Bobby asked.

"An informant, when he was younger he lived in Washington, he came to me one morning, on my way into work, scared, he told me something was going to happen, and he didn't know how to stop it, after that, he'd call me once a month, or so, he always had a tip, couldn't tell me what, when he moved to Vegas, he'd call to talk, tell me what was happening at the lab, and sometimes, I've sent evidence his way, when I needed results fast, and our lab was backed up"

Greg's POV

"I've gone to him for years, when I've known something bad was going to happen, but I've only once known he'd be involved, but then again, I don't usually know about good endings to situations," I told Grissom, as I settled back into the hospital bed.

"But he's willing to help?"

"Yes, definitely, he's bringing one of his agents to Vegas, and I think he's got the rest of his team working this too, but I'm not sure."

We talked for twenty more minutes, about what I saw, then Grissom headed back to the lab.


	10. Chapter 10: Answers

A/N: For the rest of this story, as before, i own none of what you recognise, so don't sue me, i don't have much money anyway, you wouldn't sue a girl for her grad money would you?

so yeah, this update is everything, see you at the end.

Chapter 10: Answers

Grissom's POV

I stopped by to say goodbye to Nick and Tim who were sharing the McDonald's I had left, when Greg had screamed, Nick waved 'goodbye' over his shoulder, when I stepped into the room, not turning away from whatever he and Tim were working on, on the two tables between them. Tim laughed, as I turned to leave the room, and I turned back, he waved, as if he was waving to a child, so I shot a glare, in his direction, and left.

At the lab, Warrick, and Danny had finished going over the bomb components, had pieced it together, enough that they were now preparing some test bombs, to be blown in the desert. "What do you have?" I asked.

"We're almost done, do you want to come with?" Warrick asked.

"No, I'm heading over to see what Cath has gotten from the brother, good job, guys, get this done, see if you can connect this to Jason, or Jesse, the Sheriff is going on in an hour and a half, to issue a warning to the public about Jason Maverick, see if you can get something for him on the bombing by then."

I walked back out of the lab, and drove to Ecklie's house, Cath was still there, I knocked, and Ecklie let me in. "What's going on, why are you guys harassing Justin, he didn't do anything."

"I know, but his brother did, and we need to find his brother," I told him.

I was led into the living room, and I sat next to Cath, "Justin, there was a picture we found, folded in metal, protected from the blast, of three young boys," I pulled out the evidence bag, "Does this look familiar?"

"Yes, that's me and my brothers," Justin said.

"What is 'the way?'" I asked.

"I can't tell you, I've been forced into secrecy, I left the way a long time ago, but I've never been willing to go through the removal ceremony, and am still considered a member, one of your Team, Nick Stokes was born into one of the higher up families, he's never been under the control of the elders, so if you ask the right questions, he can answer," Justin replied.

I nodded, and asked, "Would your brothers hide with the people involved in the way?"

"No, Jason was born a collector, he was sent out at the age of twenty, and isn't allowed in the home of any member," Justin said, "If Jesse was in contact with Jason, then he wouldn't leave him to fend for himself."

Catherine and I asked questions for another twenty minutes, mostly specific questions about the way, some of which Justin replied that he couldn't answer, those questions I wrote down, to ask Nick, and some of the others we asked.

After twenty minutes, Justin told us that he was tired, so we left, Cath told me she was going to pick Lindsey up from school, and run some errands with her, "We need some family time, Grissom, I know it's a big case, but I can't neglect Lindsey either."

"I understand, go ahead," I told her, "Just be sure to have the interview notes filed, before you go home."

I drove to the hospital, in Nick's room, I could see him leaning over the tray tables, Tim on the other side, he was covering the table with his body, all I could see was the end, and I couldn't see anything on it. I started to walk around, and saw that Tim's right arm was moving rapidly across the top of the table, Nick's was moving similarly across his table. "What are you two doing?" I asked.

"Nothing," Nick jumped, and pushed whatever he was doing to Tim who slid it into a large binder, I caught sight of pencil lines, before it disappeared.

"I just need to ask some questions, pertaining to the lab explosion, I was talking to Justin Maverick, he's Jason Maverick's younger brother, and Jesse Maverick, Justin's twin is the man we suspect of blowing up the lab, anyway, there was a message folded in between some metal, talking about 'the way' Justin said he couldn't say much, forced into secrecy, but you might be able to answer some questions, Nick."

"What kind of Questions? Because even I have things I'm not able to say."

"Alright, oh, before I forget, I picked up your messages from work, and checked your machine," I handed Nick a stack of papers.

"'Call me, D' 'Why haven't you called, D' 'Where are you, D' 'I'm going to fly in, as soon as I'm done work, if you don't call me, D' and from work, 'Call your dad' 'someone named D called' wow, D is really worried." Nick said, and reached for the phone sitting on the table between him and Tim.

Nick dialled a number, when the person picked up on the other end, he spoke rapidly, and hung up, then dialled another number, this time, he started singing into the phone.

"Hey dad, look at me think back and talk to me, did I grow up, according to plan?

And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do?

But it hurts when you disapproved all along

And now I try hard to make it I just wanna make you proud.

I'm never gonna be good enough for you,

can't pretend that I'm alright and you can't change me, 'cuz we lost it all

Nothing lasts forever, I'm sorry I can't be perfect

Now it's just to late, and we can't go back,

I'm sorry I can't be perfect ..."

When he stopped singing, he said, "Call me when you don't care what I've done, and that I'm scarred, otherwise, don't bother."

"I take it you don't get along with your dad?" I asked

"He's the one that gave me this," Nick pulled the opening in the hospital gown around, and showed me his hip, it had an intricate looking tattoo with scars crisscrossing over it."

"The tattoo?" I asked dumbly.

"No, he tried to get rid of the tattoo, because I left 'the clan' the problem with that is, the tattoo symbolizes my clan, and that cannot be gotten rid of, so it's still there."

"What is 'The way?" I asked.

"It's probably a clan, but I'm not sure, there are so many of them, some are basically families, others are like governments, where they control their people, I don't know exactly, but I know that there are all kinds, if you give me some time, I can check with some sources," Nick said.

Nick's POV

"What is a collector?" Grissom asked.

"Can't answer that," I said.

"I can," Tim said, "I had a brother, died when he was twenty, or that's what my parents said, had a funeral and everything, I was ten, and ran into him a month later, he explained it to me, he was a collector, my parents always told him that he couldn't let me get attached to him, but come on, it doesn't happen, a kid loves his older brother, always, but it's hard to explain, without you knowing the whole story, Grissom, Take a seat, this is a long story."

"And you may not believe it," I told him.

"Try me," Grissom sat in the chair.

"There are different types of people in this world, some use magick, some have special talents, and most of those are born into or are chosen by clans," I said, "clans usually get along, but sometimes, someone offends someone else, and there is a fight, the fights usually end as soon as someone gets hurt, on either side, because the clans are fairly small, one death could account for ten percent of the clan,"

"There are some bigger clans, numbering in the hundreds, but not many," Tim said.

"I know of four, the large clans sometimes have little battles, where members end up getting hurt, they're bigger and more serious than the smaller clans, though everyone tends to follow the same sets of rules which include do not be found out. So I'm breaking some rules," I told Grissom

"But that shouldn't matter, considering who you father is," Tim said

I looked over at Tim, and caught sight of someone step into the doorway. "Mr. Grissom, Warrick is in talking to Greg, and told me I'd probably find you here," the voice was male.

"Danny, you and Warrick finish with that bomb?"

"Yes we did, he said he wanted to visit Greg on our way back to the lab," the Danny guy said.

"Well, how did it go?"

"We've got one additional lead, the bomb at the lab was enclosed in something, that suppressed the blast, it wasn't metal."

"Then what was it?" Grissom asked.

"We don't know, plastic would have melted in the blast, but would have left traces in the debris, there was no sign of an additional metal casing, so we're not entirely sure about what it was."

"Do you have pictures," I asked.

"Oh, sorry, Nick, this is Danny Messer, Danny, Nick Stokes, he's one of my best CSI's." Grissom said.

"Thank you, Grissom. It's nice to meet you Danny, do you have pictures from the lab, and test bombs?"

"Nick, you're on leave," Grissom said.

"So, I want to see what he's talking about," I replied.

Grissom nodded, and Danny put a folder on the tray table, Tim leaned over, as I opened the folder, it was full of pictures, the first ones were from the lab, the damage was much less than I expected, there were others from the test explosions they all had a larger blast radius, Tim pulled back the pictures of the explosion at the lab, the table we had been working on had been pushed away from where the wall had been, the pictures had orange cones from where they had found each of us, but the walls on either side of the office were nearly intact, like the office had been a tunnel, not the epicentre of the explosion, I looked at Tim, he nodded, he had the same idea.

I called Caita, she answered on the third ring, as normal, "Caita, would you do some research for me?" I asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Because this could cause a battle, with another clan, a larger clan."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure, I only know that it's a larger clan, because the members don't know that there is more than one clan."

"Give me the information, I'll do what I can, without getting caught," Caita replied.

I agreed, and told her who it was I wanted information on, and what I knew, we talked for a minute, while, while she made sure she had it right, then we hung up.

"There are three possible ways the bomber could have done that, the first they would have needed hours of prep, at the site, the second could only be botched by someone really inexperienced, the third could only be attempted by someone really experienced," Tim said.

"So this guy is either really weak, or really strong?" I asked

"Right, either way, he's dangerous, he's to weak to handle what he tries to do, and that's when people get hurt."

"Another problem, could be, if this guy is strong, he could be able to intentionally hurt someone," I said.

"Exactly, there is no way that anyone not specially trained should approach these guys," Tim said.

"But who has that kind of training?" Grissom asked.

"The FBI, and soon, you, Grissom," Tim told my boss.

"No, Tim, Grissom already has the bad habit of going off on his own to confront suspects, we don't need him going after such dangerous men alone, we'll call a couple of my guys," I said, then without missing a beat, I added, "the men I know are police officers, from around the states, only two of them are FBI."

"How hard is it to train someone to be able to protect themselves from these guys?" Grissom asked

"I can train one person, that's all I can do, until I can get home," Tim said.

"I could train five, if I could get home," I told him.

"Alright, so you both want to go home," Grissom said.

"Nick's place is about as good as mine," Tim replied.

"It's the supplies that's the problem, not the ability, come on, Tim, you know my father, one thing he taught me, as a child was how to conserve energy, I could do forty of them, with the right supplies."

"What kind of supplies?" Grissom asked.

"Supplies that only a clan member could get, hey, Tim, he's limited in what he can do, without supplies, right, let's blacklist them," I said.

"Blacklist? Can we do that?"

"He took a cheap shot, blowing up a clan leader's place of work, I'd say I should be able to order a blacklisting."

"But will everyone follow that?" Tim asked.

"They should, people around here know me, and they know what I'm capable of."

"And what are you capable of?" Grissom asked.

"My father's clan, the 'Elda aron' is the second most powerful clan, my sphere of influence is almost to the extent that I'm self sufficient, apart from any clan besides my own," I said.

"Tell me more about the Clans, and about collectors?"

"The clans are often hundreds of years old, with the same families running them, but if a child is born into a leader's family, and is weak, they don't often get put into the succession for the leadership of the clan," Tim said.

"My older siblings all have my families' tendency to be weak, my father is the leader of a very democratic clan, he's the strongest, on the council, and that's saying a lot, due to my family's tendency to be weak, and the strength of the clan."

"How do you determine the strength of someone?" Grissom asked.

"There are different ways, to determine the strength of someone, a lot of it is relative, because different people are strong in different areas, personally, I'm strong, in Fire and air things, while Tim is stronger with water, and earth,"

"So it's a lot like Wiccans?" Danny asked.

"No, Wiccans stemmed from the powerless removed from the clans, they wanted power, but they have none, some of the powerless stay around the clans, help keep them hidden, others leave," I replied.


	11. Chapter 11: Separated

Chapter 11: Separated

A moment later, I heard noise in the hall, "You can't bring a baby into the room," a nurse said.

"I'll wait out here, you go in and see him," I recognized Atanvarno's voice.

"NINYA," I called, as she walked in, "Where is, Nilde?"

"The nurse wouldn't let me bring her in, Atanvarno is in the hall with her.

"I want to see her, Nilde is my goddaughter," I said.

"Nilde has been asking for you, since you left last time, that's why we brought her,"

"Bring her in, bring her in, I don't care, what the nurses have to say," I told her.

Ninya went out to the hall, and came back in a minute later, carrying Nilde, 'ada ada' Nilde said, reaching out, from where her mom stood holding her.

"She's been doing that all week, at first we thought she was asking for her dad, but, when he was holding her, she just called louder," Ninya said, "And she reaches away from him, the other day at the same time as the explosion, she was sleeping, she woke up, and wouldn't stop crying, I was ready to take her to the doctor, when she stopped, suddenly,"

Ninya handed me Nilde, I balanced her lightly in my right arm, using just the fingers of my left hand to keep her steady. "I've missed you, girlie, where have you been hiding?" I asked, then babbled to the three month old in my arms.

"Grow up, Nick," Ninya said.

"No, Nilde, Alatos, and Arcon keep me like a child," I told her.

Half an hour later, Ninya took Nilde from Nick, and left, to go home. Grissom turned back to Nick, "Tim was telling us more about the clans, I think that's all we'll need, thank you, Tim, I have to get back to the lab," Grissom said, he and Danny left a few seconds later. I looked at Tim, and he said, "She looks almost exactly like you."

"I know, her older brothers do to, their father, couldn't have children, but they wanted some so bad, they asked me to be their biological father," I said.

"But the donations didn't take, medical procedures to have children don't work for us."

"Right, so we tried a few different ways to for it to take, they have three of my children, I won't go into the details of how we finally got it to work," I said.

"I don't care, but it's obvious to almost anyone looking in on them." Tim replied.

"I know, but it's what they wanted, who am I to destroy someone's dreams, when I have the means to fulfill them?"

"You also have the means to protect yourself, and this greatly diminishes that ability, when you are protecting someone, Nick, you can't protect yourself," Tim said.

"Who said I was protecting anyone?" I was getting angry.

"People protect their children, whether they consider it like that, or not, Nick,"

"How does it go, a parent has the inherent right to protect it's young? So do I."

"At your own expense, don't hurt yourself to protect someone, Nick."

"You would, and we both know it," I pointed out.

"You're not immortal, and you can't put yourself at risk, you're to important to the clans,"

"Who says I'm not immortal? We don't know if I'm immortal I haven't died yet, we don't know enough about me, the Oracles agree on the fact that I should be on the council, even though I've been scarred, my father mentioned some of them thinking it's not worth the trouble, I'd say that my conditions aren't worth the trouble, which means that they don't care about what my conditions are, as long as I rejoin the clan."

"I know what they want, I'm not worth the trouble, one way or the other, and if that's what you want, it depends on which way they decide, I'm not worth it, Nick, are you gonna stick your neck out for me?"

"Always, just like you did for me, when this happened," I slapped the side of my face, with my right hand, "there are more than enough times when you stood up for me, sticking your neck out, sometimes at risk to your own life, protecting me, yes, I have three children I will protect, but you are the only person who I have ever been willing to risk my life for, the only one I have risked my life for, we both saved each other that day, you know it, I know it, if we had allowed ourselves to be separated, we would have died, the chances of both of us surviving even staying together, were slim, but we both did what we could, I remember that day clearly, we were scared, I know I was more scared you would be killed, than I would be, and I'm sure you felt generally the same way."

"You're right, I was scared, for you, we need to catch this guy, Nick, but we also have to deal with our problems, being accepted to return, and merge with your father's clan will only make it worse," Tim said.

"You're right, but you're still mad about something, maybe we should start with that."

"We should, I'm mad about what you did, with that woman, when we last saw each other, you gave me the impression, that you had no interest in that sort of thing, but it seems it didn't take long for you to change your mind."

"I never changed my mind, even when we were kids, I tried to show you, that there was only one person who I would love, but I guess that didn't work, because you never saw it, everyone else did, but you're to blind."

We continued to argue, until a nurse came in, and said, "Would you two keep it down, there are other patients here."

We sat silently for about two hours, but after awhile, Tim turned to me, and said, "I'm still pissed."

"Get over it, I hadn't seen you in years, I wanted to do something for a friend," I said.

The argument started up again after that, a nurse came in again and said, "If you don't keep it down, I'll put you in separate rooms."

"Good," Tim said, "Get him out of here."

The nurse looked at me, and I said, "Yes, get me out of here."

The nurse left the room for a second, with a nod, and came back with a wheelchair, she loaded me into the wheelchair, with my crutches on one side of the chair, and with the few things I had with me, on the other side, I was brought out of the room. The nurse pushed me into the next room, and I spotted Greg, "Hey, Nick," he said.

"Hey Greg,"

"What were you two arguing about, we could hear your voices, but not what you were saying?"

"He knows how to hold a grudge, is all I'll say," I told Greg, "he met my goddaughter today, and he's like all annoyed, about something, probably stems from our childhood."

"Is either of you willing to share a room with this, Tim guy?" The nurse asked, "We don't need yelling and screaming disturbing the other patients, though I was just bringing him in here so that I could prepare a room for him, if one of you is willing to switch, it'll make life easier."

"I'll switch," Greg said, "No problem with that."

As soon as the trade had been made, and I was settled in the bed, Tony said, "Nick, you and Tim really gotta work out whatever it is that you were fighting about, I saw it, when we first got here, the look on your face when you saw him, the look on his face, when he saw you, yeah, you have your problems, but everyone does, and twenty years, problems you had, were forgotten, but new ones have sprung up, how can they not, you've led your lives, had girlfriends, had boyfriends, but is it really worth losing your best friend, over a petty argument."

"He's pissed because I gave a couple children, that they wouldn't have been able to have otherwise, and he doesn't believe something that I told him about it, which I won't go into," I said.

"He thinks you had an affair, and that you got her pregnant?"

"That, and that I'm in love with the woman, which I didn't, and I'm not, they came to me, as a couple, and I agreed to help them, because children were, are, so important to them, and I knew they would take care of my baby."

"But you think of it as your baby,"

"I think of Nilde as my daughter, yes, but the boys are Atanvarno's sons, if not by blood,"

"And what of , Nilde? Is it?"

"Nilde is the youngest, a little girl, Atanvarno was sent on a business trip, that he couldn't get out of, right around the time that Nilde was born, since Ninya was due right away, I was staying with her and the kids, to help with the kids, she had planned a home birth, and of course, as tends to happen, she went into labour while her husband was away, I had participated when the boys were born, but the way the plan went, Atanvarno was to deliver the baby, the midwives were only there to assist, once again, that's what they were there for, now, Atanvarno had shown me how to deliver a baby, I had taken the classes with him, before their first son was born, and I knew what to do, so it wasn't a big deal, when I held her for the first time, though, Nilde just gave me this look, and I haven't been able to forget it, Atanvarno told me, that there was no way he could claim to be her father, as soon as he held her, in eight weeks, I'm getting custody of her, or, I was, now it may be a little different, with the explosion," I said.

"It'll be fine, so what, they just don't want a daughter?" Tony asked.

"Never did, my dad has six brothers, I have one, and six sisters, and I only have nephews, they were hoping for boys, both of them, Ninya doesn't mind having a daughter, but she won't argue with Atanvarno on the point, beyond keeping her, until she was weaned, she had been hoping that he would be willing to keep her, after she had been with them for awhile, but he decided he still didn't want her, when I found out, I told him, that I would take my daughter, he was just going to give her up to child services, without a care, not happening."

"You're a good father, even if they don't know it," Tony said, "Even if Tim doesn't want to admit it."

Three days later, Nick went home, he spent two more days, not doing much of anything, then he picked up the phone, and dialled Warrick's number.

"Hey, Warrick, it's Nick, what's up?"

"Just sending the last of our guests home, Jack is taking his friend Bobby back to Washington, tomorrow morning, Kate and Tony are on the same flight, so we all went out for a celebratory dinner tonight," Warrick said.

"They're leaving, did you catch the guy?" I asked.

"Yes we did, three hours ago, why do you ask, no one called you?" Warrick asked.

"No, I've been sitting here all day, I was only on the phone for ten minutes tops, to a friend, and I have call waiting, who was supposed to call me?"

"Grissom, he called Tim, then I was called away, something for another case, that came in, and I thought he called you, funny thing is, I was there, and I don't remember anything, from the time Bobby pointed out to me who the guy was, in the crowd, and the time they put him in the squad car," Warrick said.

"Did you get hit?" I asked.

"NO, I swear, it's just gone, Bobby said it was no big deal, but I don't know, it's weird to me."

"You accept any drinks from either Bobby or Jack?" I asked.

"No, wait, yes, Bobby and I went out for coffee, he went up to the counter, I got us a table, why?" Warrick asked.

"Is he there?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's right here,"

"Can I talk to him please?"

Warrick handed over the phone, I could hear it exchange hands, "Bobby here," his accent was pleasant to my ears.

"Who gave you the vial?"

"What vial?"

"You know which one, the one you put in Warrick's coffee."

"I got it from your place, why?"

"You gave him the wrong one, I have more than one vial in my house Bobby, the one you gave him, what colour was it?" I asked.

"Red," Bobby said, "The same colour as the one you gave me."

"Yeah, I told you to take that one three days after you agreed to undergo the test, the first day I gave you the blue one, and I asked," I pointed out, "You ever wonder why I asked you not to touch my stuff?"

"Did I do anything that will..." Bobby trailed off.

"I'll have him over soon, and fix your mistake, but never try it again," I said.

"I won't, I won't, so it wasn't normal?"

"For what he got, yes, it is normal," I said.

The phone was passed back to Warrick, and I said, "I didn't call to talk to Bobby though, I called to invite you over tomorrow afternoon, I've got a few things I want to talk to you about, and something I could use a hand with," I said.

"You want something from me, what do I get out of the deal." Warrick asked.

"I'll make you supper," I said.

"Make or buy, cuz buy, isn't worth it," Warrick said.

"I'll buy you supper when you come, and when I get the cast off, I'll make you supper."

"Alright," Warrick cheered, I'll be there tomorrow at four," Warrick said.

"Thanks Warrick," I smiled.

After I got off the phone, I called a cab, knowing that Jesse and Jason Maverick were captured, gave me that freedom. I had ordered all the furniture I would need, and it had been delivered the day before, but there were still a few more things that I wanted to get. "Where to?" the cabbie asked, after I had gotten settled in the passenger seat, I named the specialty baby store that I wanted to go to.

Once there, it took me nearly five minutes before I could get out, and away from the car, so the driver could pull away. I hobbled on my crutch into the store, and pulled a cart awkwardly from the others. "Let me help you with that," a young girl said, taking the cart.

"I've got it, thanks," I said, looping my left arm over the handle, using the crutch to lever myself forward, I moved slowly through the store, towards the small items, the ten minutes on the phone had been Ninya telling me that Atanvarno was going out of town on business, he had told her, that if I didn't take the Nilde before he got back, she would be going to social services, as a child abandoned on their doorstep.

I loaded the cart with the things I would need, and made my way to the till, another, older woman was there, as I unloaded the cart, she smiled at me, as I placed the last of the things on the conveyor belt, and pulled out my cell phone. "Calling your wife?"

"Calling a cab, I'm not married," I said.

The cab arrived after I had been standing outside, bags at my feet, for twenty minutes, the cab driver got out, and put them in the backseat. I gave him my address, and he helped me bring the bags into the house, I thanked him, as I paid him, and he left. It was a painstakingly slow process, getting my things put away. The night passed slowly, as I didn't sleep, until shortly after ten. At three thirty, I got up, and went into the bathroom, to get cleaned up. Warrick showed up shortly after four, I invited him in, hobbling out of his way, "this is an incredibly awkward mode of transportation, so you know," I told him, slowly pacing down the hall, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure,"

"What do you want?" I pulled out two glasses, and opened the fridge.

"Whatever you have is fine," Warrick said.

I pulled the bottle of pop out of the door, and handed it to Warrick to open, reaching into the cupboard, after pouring the pop, I slipped a thin vial of blue liquid into my pocket, Warrick took the glasses so we could go to the living room.

"What's in the vial?" he asked.

"I was hoping you hadn't noticed that, oh well, Bobby gave you something, that he took from my house, without my permission, I will add, for clarification, this vial is it's counterpart, normally taken three days before the one he gave you, now, I'll give you a choice, since it isn't exactly the way this normally goes, you can take the blue one, and complete the entire vaccination, or you can take the green one which will remove the problem entirely," I said.

"Vaccination?"

"Bobby brought you on that sting, so he wanted to protect you, if he had asked me, I would have said 'no' you don't need the trouble, but the vaccination is to protect you from people like Maverick, the blue one protects you, the red one protects people who can't afford to be exposed," I said.

"There is a but there, isn't there."

"For most people, the vaccination has no adverse affects, but I with our job, I checked a long time ago, if it would have an affect on you, see the thing is, there are some people who have latent abilities, and the vaccination brings them out, and you're one of those people, if you take this," I held up the vial, "it will affect your life, and this choice will lead to another which will lead to a thousand more," I said.

"And the other one?" I asked.

"It will negate the things you learned because of the one Bobby gave you," I said.

"So I'll lose more time than I already have?" Warrick asked.

"No, I will be sure that you only lose maybe ten minutes." I said.

"How?"

"Not much to lose, Bobby only gave it to you yesterday." I said.

"I think I'll take my chances with the blue one, if you don't mind?" Warrick said.

"Good choice, it won't take affect right away, so we'll order pizza, and then will you help me with something?" I asked

"Of course,"Warrick smiled, I handed him the vial.

"You might want to put it in your pop, it's pretty vile tasting," I told him.

"Really?" Warrick asked.

"Trust me," I said.

Warrick took it alone, followed by the rest of his pop, instead, "You're right, that was foul, so what is it you want my help with?"

"Something I haven't told you, I've got three kids, they all have the same mother, but she's decided that she can't take care of all of them, I'm getting custody of the youngest, this weekend, so I need to get her room set up," I told Warrick.

"A kid? Three kids?" Warrick said.

"Don't get mad, and don't tell people, I've got everything arranged, and even have a nanny coming for when I'm at work," I said.

"And what about the time while you're off work, you only have one arm that you can use right now, and you're on crutches," Warrick said.

"Not for long, I'm getting a walking cast tomorrow, and Nilde doesn't come until Sunday."

"You really think you can do this?" Warrick asked.

"Why not, she's my daughter, and there are some things I can tell you now, along with people with Latent abilities, there are some who have abilities they're born with, I was born with some, including the use of telekinesis,"

"How old is your daughter?"

"3months," I replied, "I've got everything I'll need, I've been expecting this for months, and I've been preparing, but now I need your help to set up the furniture."

"Alright," Warrick sighed, then said, "But I get to help, and I'm 'Uncle Warrick' Got it?"

"Thanks War, you're the greatest."

"I know," Warrick smiled.

"So what do you want, Pizza, Chinese, Italian, Thai?" I asked.

"You know a good Thai place?" Warrick asked.

"Yeah, there's one in the plaza, down the street, so close, they walk my orders over," I told him.

"Good, exhaust fumes make it bad," Warrick joked.

"What do you want?" I asked.

Warrick gave me the order, and I dialled. "Hey, Kim, who's on this afternoon?" I asked, when the phone was answered.

"Mica's working, Nick," She replied.

I placed Warrick's order, added mine and something that I knew Mica made really good. Warrick and I went upstairs, after the Nigel Crane incident, I couldn't live in the bungalow anymore, and got a new place, with a second floor, I showed him the room, it was painted in a pale pink, it was a fairly large room, with boxes piled up under the window, there was a set of shelves on one wall, with a picture of me holding Nilde, right after she was born, the smile on my face was a mile wide, there were also pictures of me holding the boys, right after they were born, all in one frame, I hadn't noticed before, but the only difference in the picture of me and Nilde, and the ones of me and the boys, is that my smile wasn't as big, in the pictures with the boys. "Alatos, and Alcarcalimo, I pointed to each of the boys in turn, though officially Alcarcalimo is Robert Alcarcalimo, because, that is one huge name for a little kid."

"I agree, what's with the strange names?" Warrick asked.

"My middle name is Turelio, and their mom's middle name is Ninya," I told Warrick, "It's a cultural thing, but now that times have changed, names like that, barely raise eyebrows." I said.

"What does Nilde mean?"

"A direct translation, I'm not sure, but an English equivalent is Friend, we considered both Manon, and Mellon, but decided that Manon was just a little dull, and Mellon sounded like she was dull, so Nilde."

"And what do they mean?"

"Oh, they all mean friend, but Nilde sounded the best."

"You were teased, as a kid, weren't you?" Warrick said, pulling the first box away from the wall.

"Yeah, and there isn't even much you can do with Nick, my sister got it worse, her name is Shelley," I said.

"Right, Smelly," Warrick said.

"Exactly, so I didn't want something like that for my kid."

The doorbell rang, and Warrick ripped the box, "That was fast," Warrick said.

I shook my head, "it's not the food,"

I went down the stairs, Warrick following, the doorbell rang again. Warrick moved ahead of me, in the hall, and opened the door, "You're not Nick, where's Nick," I recognized a neighbour's voice.

"I'm right here, Mrs. Harley, what's the matter?" I asked, hobbling forward.

"Harold was home from school sick, you know, he's fourteen, and old enough, but when I got home, he didn't answer me, the other kids went to Mable's house after school, but I came home to check on him, he's not breathing, Nick, he's been stabbed," she was crying now.

"Warrick, can you call HQ, I'm going to take Mrs. Harley into the kitchen," I said.

Warrick pulled out his cell phone, and I heard him talking, "Maria, please, I know it's an unusual request, but would you have Brass, and one of either a member of swing shift, or Graveyard shift answer a 404 at Nick's house? Thank you, Maria, we owe you one."

"Why a 404," I asked.

"Because, 419 would have a random CSI assigned, chances are, at this time of day, it would be Ecklie's team, and right now, neither of us need that trouble," Warrick said.

Swing shift was just gearing up to go to the first crime scene of their shift, when the supervisor's phone rang, she spoke with the person on the other end for a moment, and then hung up. "CSI Brown, from the Graveyard shift just called in a 404, to the desk, I want Dennis, and Claire to take that, the address is 4405 39th street," she said. The pair left, the rest of the team heading out the same way, the three of them would be investigating a 419 at treasure Island. The silver Tahoe, indicating the case had been given to swing shift pulled into Nick's driveway, the pair carried their cases up to the door, there were kids running up and down the street, "Not quite the neighbourhood I would have figured for him," Dennis said, he had a distinct Canadian accent.

"You wouldn't figure much of the guy, you consider him a player," Claire said.

"Well, he did ask both my sisters out."

They rang the doorbell. A few moments later, Brass pulled up, "What's up?"

"No answer, but this is the address we were given."

"I was woken up, so whatever Brown wants, it better be good," Brass said, then added, "or is it Stokes, this is his house,"

"Stokes never seemed like the family type either," Dennis said.

"Cuz he didn't ask either of your sisters out," Claire said.

"Exactly, Claire, you're catching on," Dennis said, ringing the bell again.

Three deadbolts were let go, and the door opened, Nick had one crutch under his right arm, "What took you guys so long?" he asked, hopping back, "Come in."

"What's going on?" Brass asked.

"Sensitive situation, three quarters of the neighbourhood have police scanners, the other quarter listens in on the others' we've got a DB, in one of the neighbour's houses, a fourteen year old boy, mother's in the kitchen with Warrick."

The trio followed Nick, Brass pulling out his phone, to call the coroner. "Don't bring the marked van, and don't let it out over the radio, most of the neighbourhood has scanners," Brass said.

Warrick was sitting at the table, he had a bottle of coke in his hand there was a bottle sitting on the corner of the table, and a woman sat next to Warrick, a bottle of coke in front of her, untouched, her face was red, and tear streaked. "Mrs. Harley, this is Detective Jim Brass, and these two are from the crime Lab, where I work, Dennis Conrad, and Claire Jamison."

"My son, he's dead, he was sick, that's why he was home, he wasn't normally home, the house was normally empty," she said.

Ten minutes later, Nick got up again, it was his and my meal, he paid for it, and put it directly in the fridge, it would be just as good warmed up, if we ever got around to it. The day passed slowly, as we answered questions, from everyone who came around, trying to find out what happened. The whole thing didn't stay under wraps for long, and the people just kept coming to the house. I went to work shortly before midnight, nothing had gotten done, but he promised to come over the next day and help with the furniture. Walking in, I went straight to Grissom's office, he was sitting behind his desk, doing paper work, his big mouth Billy Bass started singing, and he looked up. "What can I do for you, Warrick?"

"I was wondering if I could get tomorrow off, a friend of mine just found out he's going to get custody of his daughter, and he needs some help getting organized, and getting used to having her around." I said.

"I'll let you leave early tomorrow, if no cases come in," Grissom told me.

"Alright, thanks, Griss, I just want to help as much as I can," I told him.

Three hours later, Ecklie came wandering into the lab, rumours of his impending promotion had made their way around the lab, and Cath had applied for his position as day shift supervisor, he pulled her aside into the break room, the entire team was sitting in one of the layout rooms, catching up on paperwork, while they had a few hours, Greg and I were joking between each other, but it wasn't the same as when Nick and I joked around while doing paperwork on a slow night like this. The phone rang, as Ecklie pulled the cord to shut the blinds, on the glass wall in the break room. Grissom talked for a moment, then he told me to take Greg to a crime scene, "Maybe you'll be able to finish this thing before shift tomorrow, and you can help your friend, though I don't know what kind of person would want to work at the time of night you're talking."

"He works nights too," I said, "Thank you again, Grissom."

I led Greg out to the Tahoe, and we drove to the crime scene, it was a home invasion, something that was rarely solved in one shift. Greg and I got to work, processing the house, the home owner trailing after us, talking non-stop, "Nick's neighbours ask a lot of questions of the police, there was a murder in his neighbourhood today, we tried to keep it under wraps, to many people have scanners, so we didn't use the radio, to get anyone there, everyone found out anyway, then they started asking questions, I was almost happy for eleven to come around, everyone started going to bed," I was talking for no reason, by the time we finished processing the house, we left the house, and headed back to the lab, to process the evidence we had collected.

I relaxed on the couch, putting my feet up, and turning on the TV, there were still a few things going on in the neighbourhood, but nothing disruptive, at about three thirty, I got up, and hobbled up the stairs, I laid out the pieces of the crib, on the floor, and started sorting through them. Following the instructions, that suggested the setup time to be about two hours, I finished at about ten thirty, and went to bed, the doorbell rang around noon, I got up, and answered the door, it was Ninya, I stepped aside, and she came in, "You have to take her now, I'll take you to the lawyer's today, to sign away my parental rights," Ninya handed Nilde to me, I had to hold her carefully, Ninya walked out of the house, and came back with two bags, and a car seat, a third trip had her bringing a playpen, "You probably don't have a crib or anything yet," she said, in the livingroom, she set up the play pen, with a second bottom high enough up, that I could put Nilde down easily.

"It's not set up, I move a lot slower now, with only one hand and leg available for use,"

Ninya took Nilde from me, and put her in the seat, she carried the car seat outside, "Come on, I've got an appointment with the lawyers in an hour."

I got into the car, and she drove, two and a half hours later, we arrived back at my house, Ninya refused to leave the car, and help me bring Nilde into the house, I made the slow trek up the lawn, halfway up, a brown arm reached out, from behind me, and took the car seat, "why wouldn't she help you to the house with her?" Warrick asked.

"She says she has to get back to the house, and the boys," I said.

Warrick moved in front of me, and opened the door, and held it open for me, "Thank you, Warrick." I said.

Warrick saw my livingroom, and frowned, "What is this?"

"Her way of helping me," I said.

Warrick quickly rearranged my livingroom, so that it was still possible for me to move around. "I'll give you a ride to the hospital, so that you can get rid of the crutch, it's to hard to carry a child with that," Warrick said.

I nodded, putting the diaper bag over my shoulder, and once again left the house, Warrick expertly buckled the seat into his backseat, and drove me to the hospital, we had to wait five hours, before the ER wasn't so busy, that we could be seen. "What can I do for you?" the doctor asked, as he walked up to the bed. "I'm a single father, I had some help until today, when the person helping me left suddenly, I can't take care of my daughter, if I'm on crutches, I need a walking cast." I said.

"What about your friend here?" the doctor asked.

"If he could help me, I wouldn't be here," I said.

"Alright, I'll have to get new x-rays, before I can agree to that, can your friend watch your daughter, while you get the x-rays done?"

"I can," Warrick said.

While I was in the x-ray room, they decided to re-x-ray my arm as well, an hour and half later, the doctor came up, carrying the x-ray films. Putting them on the light board, he said, "Your arm hasn't healed enough to remove the cast, but the break in your leg is not near as bad, so I will give you a shorter walking cast."

The cast was cut off, and another hour later, I had a new cast, and walked out, Warrick carrying the crutch I had been using, I was carrying my daughter. With a smile, I buckled my daughter's seat into the car, bending my knee for the first time since the bomb had gone off.

We drove to my house, there Warrick and I went upstairs where he was surprised to see the crib frame set up, he gave it a good shake, to make sure it was sturdy, before going to work, I put Nilde in the bouncy seat I had sitting on the floor, near where I would be working. Warrick and I worked together, putting the furniture together, the whole house soon became a haven for me, and Nilde. Over the next month, Warrick came over everyday, during what would be swing shift, to help me with Nilde, including mixing bottles for the whole day, since it was very difficult for me to mix the formula with my cast. The day I was to get my casts off, Warrick picked me up at noon, we went out for lunch/breakfast, before my appointment, the x-rays were taken, and I had to wait for an hour, while the doctor was busy with other patients. Sitting on the exam table, my doctor asked, "any pain?"

"A little in my arm, when I've been busy," I replied.

The doctor held up the x-ray to the light, then motioned me over to the light board, where he put all of them up. "This here is your leg fracture, as you can see, it's mostly healed, however, it isn't to my satisfaction, I would like you to keep the cast for another two weeks, though you could go back to work, in the lab only, no field work, if you hadn't aggravated the fracture in your arm, it also hasn't healed as well as I thought it would have, so I'm keeping you off work for another week, by then, the arm cast should be ready to come off, if you stop using that arm as much as you obviously have been."

"The nanny service I've hired is sending someone for next week, to help me out, until a more permanent nanny can be found, until then, I have to take care of my daughter, and most of the time, that consists of using my arm to balance something," I told the doctor.

"What about your wife?"

"Don't have one, I'm a single father, with a four month old daughter, I don't have time to sit around," I said.

"Well, get some help, around your house, no balancing heavy objects with that arm, no heavy lifting, and definitely don't use your cast as a way to carry bags."

I hobbled out of the office, to the waiting room, where Warrick sat with Nilde, "So what did he say?"

"Another week, for my arm, two for my leg, and no heavy lifting," I frowned.

"Interesting, I hope that your doctor doesn't consider a four month old heavy lifting, because..." Warrick stopped, as we walked.

"He told me to get some help around the house," I said, "I don't want to rely on someone else to take care of my daughter when I'm home."

"Well, I'll help you, while I'm there, like I have been, I can bring the rocking chair downstairs for you, to save on that so called heavy lifting," Warrick said.

We drove back to my house, and Warrick carried Nilde into the house, unlike the last time, where he had let me carry her. Once the house was reorganized, we sat in the living room, "Nick, Ecklie rearranged the shifts, as of tomorrow, I'm on Swing shift, Catherine is supervising, when you get back to work, you'll be working with us too," Warrick said.

"Ecklie just changed the shifts around, without consulting anyone?" I asked.

"Grissom is pissed, he wanted to come over, but I stopped him, I wasn't sure if you wanted people over," Warrick said.

"Thank you, I wasn't sure that you would do that," I told him.

We talked for awhile, and I decided to invite Grissom over, after I got my cast off, it would be easier to explain what was going on, when I could take care of Nilde without Warrick's help, though I would still be getting some help, if he was still offering it at that point.


	12. Chapter 12:Help

Chapter 12: Help

Warrick went into the kitchen, at about ten, and started making the day's bottles, there wouldn't be enough for the full time, if Warrick wasn't going to be back the next day, but I could, with difficulty make bottles. "I'll come back after shift tonight, to make sure that you'll have enough bottles till I can get back," Warrick said, I had been sitting in the rocking chair, and must have spaced out. "I've measured out the portions in some small containers, in case I can't get back before end of shift tomorrow, so that you can make more as you need them, but I'll call if I can't make it," Warrick continued.

I nodded, without looking up from Nilde, "I've got to go, I promised Griss I'd be in a little early tonight, to do some paperwork, so I'll see you," I nodded again, and Warrick left.

I don't know how long I sat there, but I was pulled out of the stupor by Nilde's cry. I got up, and went to the kitchen, placing her bottle in the microwave, I laid her on the table, where I left a changing pad, and changed her wet diaper, then fed her, or tried to feed her, she was crying, and wouldn't accept it, I moved to the rocking chair, and began to rock, slowly, in an attempt to calm her down, slowly she did, and took the bottle, but halfway through, when I stopped to burp her, she started crying again, I continued to rock her, as I burped her, she ended up crying so hard, she threw up the food she had eaten, I was slower than I wanted to be, and that affected my mood, causing me to be more stressed. Around one, I decided to take Nilde to the park, hoping the fresh air would help her calm down, I brought the stroller out to the sidewalk, I walked for half a block, with her against my shoulder, and she calmed down, I put her in the stroller, as I stood there, buckling her in, a voice called out, "Nick, what's up?" it was Tina, a stay at home mom, who lived a few doors down from me.

"Not much, just out for a walk," I said.

"How is she?" Tina asked, herding her two five year old daughters, in front of the stroller she was pushing.

"Not feeling so great, she's been unhappy all day, I'm not sure why."

"Does she have a fever?" she caught up to me, and reached out, putting her hand on Nilde's forehead, "She feels warm."

I reached out, and touched her forehead as well, "Cooler than usual, actually," I said, she was naturally warmer than most people, I knew her strength would be in fire powers, When she was older.

"So how have you been?" Tina asked.

"Good, kind of sleep deprived, my casts are getting really annoying, and that's making it harder to sleep."

"Weren't you supposed to get them off yesterday?" She asked.

"My doctor wants to be a little cautious, because I've basically had a crash course in single parenting in the last month, and according to him, that's causing it not to heal as fast as it should, same for my leg, I'm kind of annoyed, but eventually, I will be free of the casts," I told her, with a little laugh.

We walked to the park, when we sat down on the bench, her girls ran for the swing set, I checked on Nilde, and saw she was asleep. "Finally," I said, sitting back against the bench.

"She's not sleeping through the night yet?" she asked.

"Not yet, but her schedule was disrupted so recently, I was trying to get some semblance of normalcy into her routine," I told her.

"I know how it is, my daughters were fine, but my sister's little girl didn't sleep through the night, until she was six months old," she told me.

We talked for an hour, before her daughters came over, "Mommy, we're thirsty," the slightly smaller of the two said, I think her name was Halley, the bigger one would be Katherine then, I thought to myself. "Ok, we'll go home, then," Tina said to them, "See you around Nick, I bring the girls here every afternoon.

I sat for a short while longer, then got up, and made my way back to the house, pushing Nilde's stroller in front of me. As we made our way up the driveway, she started crying, I sighed, as I put the stroller next to the front door, I carried her inside, and placed her in her swing, so I could bring the stroller in as well. It wasn't until nearly one in the morning, before Nilde calmed down for any length of time, I had checked telepathically after she reacted to the house, what the problem was, and she was sensing mental pain from somewhere outside the house, I hadn't checked before, but now knew she was a strong empath, at the very least, though I wasn't sure what other abilities she would have. I did what I could to shield her mind, but I knew that she would need more than my abilities to make it possible for her to live a normal life, I knew, as had happened with me, being a strong telepath, she'd need to see someone once every couple weeks, to block, and shield any growth, in the abilities, until she could control, and shield her abilities herself, I still saw someone sometimes, to help with the really difficult times, when my shielding began to fail, under stress. There was no one to help her in Vegas, I knew that, I was the strongest telepath anywhere, by that point, though there were some who were better trained, and one such telepath was who I visited, in Texas, he might be able to help her, but I doubted it, I knew of a powerful empath, in DC, and picked up the phone, and called the man I knew in Texas. "Hi, Nick, what's going on? What do I hear over there?"

"My daughter, I need the number of the empath in DC, who can do shielding in infants."

"Alright, just let me find it."

A minute later, my friend came back to the phone, and gave me the number, I hung up on him, I was starting to panic, about Nilde's increasing agitation. I dialled the number, and found it was a local psychic shop, in DC, not quite what I was expecting. "Madame Lucian?" I asked.

"That is me, who is calling?"

"You're a psychic, shouldn't you know?" I tested.

"Turelio, your friend called me, to see if I was still here," she said.

"So can you help?" I asked.

"I can, bring her to me, and I will help," The woman seemed genuine, and if she knew I was going to call, then she probably was.

"I'll fly out as soon as I can, thank you," I told her.

I put Nilde down, and went upstairs, to my room, I pulled out a suitcase, and packed what clothes I could wear, then brought the two bags I had to her room, I put a bunch of her clothes in the bag with my clothes, diapers, and some other essentials including formula powder, and empty bottles. I called the airline, and got us a ticket on the next plane to DC, as I moved around the kitchen, Nilde started to cry, she had been sleeping, for a change, leaving me to work, as I packed the stuff, I started to cry, as I finished packing the formula, and bottles, she just started screaming louder. I was angry, that she wouldn't stop crying, so I didn't go into the living room, I put a bottle in the microwave, then put the rest in the diaper bag, along with the pre-measured formula, I put some extra diapers in the bag, some clothes, a few toys, and her soother, then I checked her bottle, and went into the living room, before I got there, the doorbell rang, I went there instead. "What can I do for you?" I asked the uniform at the door."

"Neighbour complained, that there has been a baby crying here all day."

"Come in, I was about to feed my daughter," I limped back from the door, and into the living room, she didn't stop crying as I picked her up, but when I put the bottle to her mouth, she sucked on it for a moment then started crying again, spitting it out. "Oh, Nilde, you're going to make yourself sick doing that," I said.

"Looks like you're about to go somewhere?" The officer said.

"Yeah, it's hard to take care of a baby with one arm in a cast," I said, "I'm going to my mother's until I'm out of the casts."

"What happened?"

"I was caught in an explosion," I said, motioning to the marks still visible on my face, from both the long ago attack and the explosion, with the bottle in my left hand. I tried to give Nilde her bottle again, the officer still hovering, her still refusing to take it. On the table was still the changing pad, and clean diapers, I laid her down, and unzipped the pajamas, all of her clothes were easy to change, since I only had partial use of my left hand. As I changed her diaper, I made a point to prove to the officer, that she hadn't been injured in anyway, he nodded, as I shot the diaper into the garbage, with my right hand, I used some hand sanitiser before I picked Nilde up. "I've had a friend coming over to help, when he's not working, but it's not enough, I need more help, and I'm going to DC, for help from my mom."

I knew that would be accepted, "The only thing I've got to ask for then, is proof you're her legal guardian, and you have permission to take her out of the state," the officer said.

"I'll get it for you," I said, trying again to give her the bottle, in the kitchen, in the diaper bag, I had all the papers that I'd need in there, I put the bottle down, and pulled them from the side pocket, then picked the bottle up again, and kept trying to get her to take it, sometimes she'd take it for a moment, then spit it back out again.

"Maybe she's not hungry," the officer said.

"Maybe," I said, then looked at the officer, "You done here, you satisfied?"

He nodded, "I just need to fill some things out, can I use your counter?"

"Go ahead," I motioned to a clear spot.

The officer pulled some papers out of a small briefcase, and laid them on the counter, "What was the call?" I asked, "Just out of curiosity."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The call, was it a 416a, or something else?" I said.

"You're right, but how do you know that?" he looked around.

"I don't use my scanner, normally, but I have one in my car, and one in my room, I'm a CSI, LVMPD" I told him.

"You were caught in the lab explosion," he said.

"Yeah, is there anything you need me to sign?"

The officer finished the reports, and had just left, when the cab arrived. He pulled into the driveway, and got out, "Can you take these bags?" I asked.

He nodded, and picked them up, when I reached the car, I saw a baby seat in the back, "You take your child with you?" I asked.

"If we can't find a babysitter, when my wife makes plans, I take her with me, my boss doesn't really care, as long as he knows, I only get smaller fares when I have her with me, or just the ones with less people."

"Right," I said, buckling Nilde's seat, she stopped crying, as soon as she saw the other baby, in fact, she reached over, across the middle, and tried to reach her.

The cab driver laughed, a little, as he closed the trunk, and saw this. I rode in the front seat, on the way to the airport, at the airport the cab driver got out, and grabbed a luggage cart from just inside the doors, and brought it out. I took Nilde out of the car, while the cab driver pulled my bags out of the trunk, and put them on the cart, with the diaper bag on top, I put Nilde's carrier on the top of the cart, using my good hand to balance the carrier, and my not so good hand, to push the cart. The flight would be nearly six hours, and I had three bottles that just needed to be warmed up, I thanked the cab driver, after paying him, and walked into the airport. I went to the check in counter, and got our seats, security took a little longer than I expected, they wanted to test every little thing for drugs, or whatever.

I limped as fast as I could to the gate, and got there just before they called the handicapped and those with young children, I laughed as I realized I fell into both categories, for the time being. I found my seat, I hadn't paid for a seat for Nilde, but I was given one, because children under two got to fly for free. I buckled her seat in, then I stowed the diaper bag, beneath the seat. I watched the rest of the passengers board, and get settled. Ten minutes into the flight, just as the seatbelt sign went off, Nilde woke up, she didn't cry, which I was thankful for, but she did sound like she was about to cry, I picked her up, and pulled out the diaper bag, walking up to the lav, I passed the kitchen area, and asked one of the flight attendants, if there was anywhere I could warm up a bottle, she offered to warm it up for me, I thanked her, and handed her a bottle, I brought Nilde the rest of the way to the lav, where I changed her diaper, I passed the kitchen area on the way back to my seat, the flight attendant smiled, handing the bottle back to me. I sat down, and shook the bottle as best I could, then I tested it, both for temperature, and incase she added something, though I doubted someone working for an airline would try to hurt a complete stranger. I had just finished feeding Nilde, when the first flight attendant brought around drinks, she offered me something for her, I smiled and said, "Nilde is only four months old, she still gets formula."

"Right, what can I get you?" she asked.

"Some Pepsi please." I said.

The flight was long, but when we landed, I waited until most of the other passengers had left the plane, then picked up Nilde, and went out to the tarmac, I found a cart, first thing, with the two bags, and the playpen finally on the cart, I began to leave. It was already almost six, by the time I had checked into the hotel, I made sure I had enough stuff in the diaper bag, and went out to catch a cab. I gave the cabbie the address, and he smiled "Most tourists don't go there as part of a plan, they just end up there."

"I'm not a tourist," I said.

At the address I was given, I saw it was a gaudy looking fortune teller's shop, I got out of the cab, after paying the man, carrying Nilde I went to the door, and pushed it open. There was a woman wearing garish clothes sitting on one side of the table, and on the side with his back to me was a man with dark hair. "I'll be right with you," she said, without looking up.

I didn't listen to what she said, but the guy left a few minutes later, and the woman waved me over. "Come on back, and I'll help you with your problem."

I followed her behind the curtain, where she went behind another curtain, a minute later, she came out wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she was a lot younger than I figured she would be. "Nick, I'm Nicole Lucien" she said.

"I know, this is Nilde," I smiled.

"You're proud of your daughter."

"Yes, of course I am," I said.

Hours later, I was sitting with Nicole, she was telling me about what she was going to do to help Nilde. "I know you have a job, that probably doesn't allow you to take a lot of time off, however, mine does, so one weekend every second month, I'll come see you in Vegas, and the opposite months, you come here, until she's a year old, then we'll have to re-evaluate what needs to be done."

We started what needed to be done, when we got to a certain point, Nicole said, "That's all we can do tonight, can you come back tomorrow around eight?"

"I can," I agreed.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

She called a cab, and when it arrived, I got in, and he drove me to the hotel. I went up to my room, and set up the playpen for Nilde, just as I was about to shut the light off, there was a knock at the door. "Yes?" I asked.

"We missed you, coming in, you have a message," the man was a bell boy.

"Thank you," I said, taking the piece of paper, from him, I gave him a small tip, and he left with a smile.

I unfolded the piece of paper, and looked at it, "Nick, call me, Warrick."

I picked up my cell phone, and hit speed dial number three, Grissom was one, and Catherine was two. "Warrick here."

"It's Nick, what's up?"

"Just checking on you, what's up with the going off the map, your cell was off, and I had a hard time finding you at any hotels."

"So how did you find me, I'm not exactly checked in under my own name?" I asked.

"I happened to remember something you told me when we first started really talking, and I used that information to find the hotel you were in."

"Right, I told you my other name, didn't I? So what's up?"

"How about we talk about it when you get back," Warrick said.

"Then why did you call me long distance?"

"Right, Griss went to your house about six, or so, and you were gone, a neighbour told him that you had taken, and this is a quote, 'That screaming kid out of his of there' and she was happy about it, figured I'd give you the heads up, and suggest you talk to Griss before he talks to you."

"Thank you Warrick," I said.

"Also, while you're in DC, we're getting a temporary trace tech, from the Navy lab there, on loan, on the condition, that we process anything they need while she's here, Cath would like you to meet with her over breakfast tomorrow, to discuss living arrangements, also, call Cath before you meet Abby, better yet, call her before you go to sleep tonight." Warrick said.

I shut the light off, and turned a lamp on, leaving the room in mainly darkness. "Alright, then I'll talk to you later, because I'd like to sleep sometime tonight."

"At the end of the night, you won't get any more sleep than otherwise," Warrick said.

"But I like to think I will," I told him, then hung up.

Before he could call me back, because I knew he would, I hit the button to call Catherine, she answered on the second ring. "Hey Cath, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, do you remember the chick that came to Vegas, right after the explosion? The one from NCIS?" Cath asked.

"Yeah, Abby, something or another, why do you ask?"

"She's coming to help us out for awhile, I was wondering if you could host her for a month, while we wait for our permanent trace tech to clear the medical part of his transfer, and move out here, she's agreed to come and help out, and her boss has agreed to a temporary transfer, as long as we process their stuff, which Griss and Ecklie agree, isn't a problem, I want you to meet with her, and if you agree to host her in your spare bedroom, then see if she agrees," Catherine said.

"One, actually two problems, I'd need someone to clean out my office, of boxes, I've just put a bed in there, and it's a real mess, second, I'm probably going to be here for almost an entire week," I said.

"That's ok, she's not coming to Vegas for another week either, is there anything else?"

"One thing, I never told you this, in fact, I only told Warrick, but I have a daughter, I in fact had two spare rooms, and an office, but I'm getting a live in nanny, to help with my daughter, and she's now got a room, so all I have is an office, which I'd need you to get Warrick to check over for specific files that would need to be moved out of there, he'd know which ones, and she'd have to agree." I specified.

"I'll talk to Warrick, I've got her number here, call her," Catherine said, after I confirmed I had something to write on, Catherine dictated the number to me, "She's expecting your call around eight in the morning, what time is it there now?"

"About midnight, Cath, am I allowed to call it a night?" I asked.

"Get some sleep, Nick, but when you get back, we'll talk about you keeping secrets from me, I thought you were my friend."

"We are friends, Cath, listen, I haven't told Grissom, but I think that he knows, one of my neighbours might have told him, when he was at my house earlier, I don't know, Warrick said something, anyway, Cath, while I'm here, I'm not really accepting calls, but Warrick knows how to get in contact with me, so if something comes up, just get him to call me," I told her.

"Alright," Catherine said.

"I'll talk to you later," I told her, "I'll call you tomorrow no matter what."

"Alright, goodnight, Nick."

I hung up the phone, and clicked off the light, I was soon asleep. I woke up, at five in the morning, not to Nilde screaming, as I usually did, but I was awake nonetheless, I slipped out of bed, and moved to the playpen, she was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising evenly. Then I realized what woke me up, it was a gunshot, I slipped the chain on the door, as I looked out the peephole, a man ran out of the room across the hall, with a gun in his hand, he had his head ducked low enough to avoid sight by the cameras, but not low enough to avoid my line of sight, he stuffed the gun into his pants, and ran towards the stairs. I moved to the phone, and dialled 911, soon the police arrived, it wasn't until the police officer showed his badge, at my door, did I open it. I looked back at where Nilde slept, she had slept through something I hadn't that showed that she really would sleep through the night, hopefully from now on. "So what did you see?"

"Well, I woke up at about five, that in itself surprised me, because my daughter wasn't up," I said, "When I realized that it was a gunshot, I looked out into the hall, a man came out of the room across the hall, holding a gun, as soon as he was gone, I called 911," I told the officer what I knew.

"If you saw him, would you be able to recognize him?"

I nodded, without hesitation, "If you want a sketch, I've been working on one, since I called," I turned, and leaving the door open, I picked up the notebook beside the bed, the sketch wasn't quite finished, but it was almost exactly as I remembered seeing the guy. I tore the page out, and handed it to the officer, "also, I would suggest your people stick near the walls, someone might be able to find the shooter's foot prints," I told him.

The officers knocked on the door across the hall, when there was no answer, the hotel manager unlocked the door, and stepped back, one officer stepped into the room, and walked towards the body I could see laying there, he checked for pulse, and shook his head, looking around the room, he called back, "Call NCIS, this is a Navy officer, their jurisdiction, and walked back out to the hall. He started to tape off the doorway, and I looked at either end of the hall, the two officers were standing in the hall, right outside the door, destroying any evidence that may have made it's way into the hallway, "Gentlemen, Nick Stokes, I'm with a crime lab in Vegas, please move away from the doorways, and tape off the hallway at least from the doorways at either end and stop destroying evidence."

"We know how to do our job," one man said.

"And I know mine, no matter that I don't have jurisdiction, it is my job to protect a crime scene, thus I'm asking you to remove yourself to the elevator, and you remove yourself to the stairs," I said, pointing at each one in turn. They only moved, together towards the elevator. I nodded, that would be better, any footprints to the stairs would still be available for the investigators, whoever it was that ended up investigating this mess, and the only reason I called it a mess was because the officers had been tramping over evidence since they had arrived. It took nearly an hour after the call went out, for the investigators to arrive, the one in the lead was Gibbs, I recognized the ones behind him as Tony, and Kate, the other man I didn't know. "Gibbs, I'm glad you're here, I gave the bumbling idiots over there a sketch of the man I saw exiting the scene just before I called the police, they probably destroyed any evidence in this part of the hallway, but from the next door, to the stairs, they haven't been, and the perp went that way, so, you might be able to get some usable footprints off of the stairwell, or before then, in the hall."

Gibbs nodded, "Thank you, Nick. Kate, Tony, Start processing the scene, McGee, I'm going to teach you how to interview the first witness on the scene, I figure with a co-operative witness, we can get some decent practice in."

"Funny Gibbs," I said.

"No, really, McGee has to learn how to interview a witness, the right way." Gibbs said.

"Fine, McGee, ask me the five million dollar question," I smiled.

"What's your name again?"

"Wrong question, you should always remember the witness' name, if you don't, why should they remember what happened." I said.

"Nick, you're crazy,"

"I was a Dallas cop, that's what they teach us," I said.

"Dallas, Baltimore, are all cops turned CSI's jerks," McGee asked.

"Tony, you being a jerk to McGee?" I leaned over and called into the next room.

"Never," Tony called back.

"Alright, try again, what is the five million dollar question?"

Without prompting from Gibbs, McGee asked, "What happened here?"

With a slight smile at Gibbs, I sighed, and said, "I already told the cops, ask them."

"I'm asking you now, I'll talk to them after," McGee said.

"I woke up, for some reason, I didn't know at the time, but I've got a really good memory, and I realized, it was a gunshot, I checked the hallway through the peephole, and saw a man with a gun, he had his head down, but I saw his face, he tucked his gun into his pants, and walked towards the stairs, I did a sketch of the guy, I gave it to the officer over there," I said.

"You're an artist?" McGee asked.

"No, but I've worked in law enforcement for a long time, and sometimes I feel the need to get my suspects on paper, you'd be surprised, even if I never saw the guy before, how close I get sometimes." I told him.

"How long has it been since the shooting?" he asked.

"It took you guys an hour to get here, it took them nearly three quarters of an hour to get here, I'd say almost two hours."

McGee asked me a few more specific questions, then thanked me, and walked towards the cops, Gibbs thanked me, and followed McGee. I went back into the room, and dialled the number I had been given for Abby. "Hi, you must be Nick," she was really perky.

"I am, I'm in DC on a personal matter, and was asked to see you to make plans for your stay in Vegas, I know I'm calling late, is there any chance we can meet tomorrow for breakfast?"

"How about today at noon, for lunch?" she asked.

"I'll have to check, because I was kind of a witness to a crime," I told her.

"I'll hold" she said.

"Gibbs, am I going to be able to get out of here for lunch?" I asked.

"Of course, you can go now, if you want," he said.

I went back to the phone, "Noon sounds good, where should we meet?"

"There is a diner near the NCIS building, called Caty's it's on fifth, when you tell the cab driver." Abby said.

"Alright, I'll see you then," I said.

I measured the bottles as best I could for Nilde, and made them ready, I started to heat water, I had been planning to warm up the bottles from the fridge, but I didn't have a microwave, so that wouldn't work. I fed Nilde who gave me a look, as soon as she was done the bottle that told me, that she wanted more. "Just be patient," I told her, and laid her on the bed, the bed was within sight of the open doorway, so I sat between her, and said doorway, so I could change her diaper. I spent the next hours, interacting with my daughter, though I did call for room service, and met the waiter at the elevator, I shut the door, when I went in to eat it. I sat down on the bed, Nilde lay next to me looking content. "Now you're happy," I said, in the most annoyed tone I could muster, she just looked up at me.

At quarter to twelve, I left the room, and waved at McGee who was standing at the stairwell, he opened the door into the stairwell, and then he darted past me, though we ended up riding the elevator down together. "You don't trust me, you think I did it." I said.

"Why do you ask that?"

"First witness, first suspect," I pointed it out, "Though if you think about it, if an officer finds a body, he isn't a suspect, and I only reported shots fired, that isn't unusual for someone who had nothing to do with the crime to be concerned, and do that."

On the main floor, I went to the front desk, "How can I help you sir?" the desk clerk asked.

"I'm going out for a few hours, but if the NCIS special agent Gibbs asks for access to my room, please supply him with a key."

"Yes sir," she nodded.

I turned from the desk, the phone rang then, the desk clerk answered the phone, "Mr. Stokes, you have a phone call," she called.

I walked back to the desk, and took the phone, "Hello?"

"Mr. Stokes?" the voice on the other end was unfamiliar.

"Speaking."

"Please hold for the council chamber," she said, and music came over the phone line.

I stood in the lobby, waiting for the line to come alive. "Nicky?" the voice on the other end was my father's

"Don't call me that," I said.

"Alright, I'm sorry," he said, "I've got the entire council here, Turelio, and the oracles."

"What do you guys want?" I asked.

"We have agreed," One voice I didn't recognize said, "We welcome you, and your clan to join the larger clan."

"I must speak with my clan members, before I can agree, most of them agreed earlier to an alliance, and that is what this must be, only an alliance. As they have had time to change their minds, seeing what you truly are, some may also have decided it wasn't worth it," I said.

"Your clan is spread across the country, how long will it take?"

"I will inform my father within the next two weeks, but we will not centralize, our manner of living is such that my people are free to do as they wish, the clan is strongest with those freedoms." I said.

"You will be an allied clan, as such, you can set your own policy, with the risks and benefits of the larger clan, your clan will pay some dues, of course, you will attend council meetings, or your highest advisor, and when other parts of the larger clan need help, you will send it."

I told him that I would inform them when a decision had been made, and that I would contact them. On the cab ride to the café, where I was meeting Abby, I called Bobby, "We've been asked again to join my father's council, we would be allied with them, in the case of a problem, either way, I told them, it was an issue that needed discussion, I've got a meeting in a few minutes, for non clan business, but would you call Encaitare, and Manveru, about this, and I'll call you when I'm done?"

"Alright, so you're in DC?"

"I am, why do you ask?"

"I've got a case I wouldn't mind using your expertise on."

"Alright, I'm meeting someone for lunch, but I can stop by your office, when I'm done."

"Sounds like a plan, bring ten bucks, if you want to enter an office pool."

"We'll see about that, Bobby, you know I'm really good at winning those," I told him.

I closed my cell phone, just as the cab pulled up to the café, I handed the driver his money, and unbuckled Nilde's car seat. I walked into the café, the tables were mostly full of couples, or business men, I knew this girl I was supposed to meet wouldn't be dressed like a business person, I looked around, and saw her, she had black hair, she surprised me, she was dressed in a business suit, all in black, but it was set off by gothic earings, and necklaces. I moved over, and sat on the other side of the table, "Abby?" I asked.

"I am," She smiled, "Nick, I hope."

"I am," I returned her smile, lifting Nilde out of her seat, I said, "This is Nilde, my daughter, I'm going to get right to the point, they want you to stay at my place, because, I have a few spare rooms, if you'd be willing to stay with us, Nilde and I would be glad to have you in our home for the time you are in Vegas."

"I accept, now that business is out of the way, let's get some grub," she handed me the menu she had been holding.

After we had placed our orders, I looked at Abby closer, and recognized a vampire relic, not that it said much, it had become a pop culture item a number of years back.

"That's an interesting symbol, do you know what it means?" I motioned to the least recognizable relic she wore.

"It's a vampire symbol, I'm amazed with the culture, it's so mysterious, and romantic," Abby was definitely not one of the kind.

"I agree," I said, we talked for a couple minutes, after we ate, and paid, she invited me to tour the lab where she worked, I agreed. We walked down the street together, and talked about the gothic culture. Just outside the NCIS building, my cell rang, I flicked it open, "Nick, we've got an interesting situation here, can you come by, if you help, you may be paid a consultant's fee."

"Alright, Bobby, I'll be there as soon as I can," I said, after hanging up the phone, "Sorry, Abby, I have to go, my friend needs some help with something."

"Alright, when are you going back to Vegas?" she asked.

"In three days," I replied.

"I'll see you in a week then, when I get to Vegas," Abby said.

I turned to the street, and hailed a cab, less than five minutes later, I arrived at the FBI building, walking in, I pulled out my wallet, and handed my CSI badge, and my drivers licence to the receptionist, I told her that Bobby was expecting me, she picked up the phone, and dialled an internal number, a moment later, she passed my licence, my CSI badge, and a visitor's badge as well. I nodded at her, as she told me to go to the third floor. At the elevator, I nearly ran into a blonde woman leaving it at the same time, "Sorry Ma'am" I smiled, and did a slight bow.

"It's alright," She smiled, she was followed by a golden retriever, away from the elevator. I pressed the button for the third floor, and heard someone asking to hold the elevator, I stuck my hand out, and held the elevator for him. "Thank you," he said, he had dark hair, and I recognized him, he was Bobby's friend, Jack.

"No problem, You're Jack, right?" I said.

"Yes, and you are?" He asked.

"I'm Nick, I'm a friend of Bobby's he's talked about you," I told him.

"Right, so what are you doing here?"

"Bobby asked me to consult on something or another, I don't even know what he wants me to do," I said.

"You'll find out soon enough," Jack smiled.

I put Nilde's carrier on the floor of the rather slow elevator, she was sleeping, and didn't notice it. I followed Jack off the elevator, and down a hallway, to either a small bullpen, or a large office, there was a door off the far end of the room, Jack went to the desk closest to the door, Bobby was sitting at a desk on the other side of the room, looking around the room, I noticed that the room was set up, in such a way that no one had their back to the open room, and only one desk was behind another, almost like offices, not the standard bull pen.

"I need you specialized expertise, for an interrogation," Bobby said.

"Who are you interrogating?" I asked.

"We think that this man tried to blow up a house in Washington, but first, we have no proof, and second, he's not talking," Bobby told me.

"And you think I'll get him to talk?" I asked.

"Of course, you are after all an expert," Bobby said.

"An expert at getting you to talk, that's saying nothing of criminals," I pointed out.

"I trust you can do it, and if not, at least we tried,"

"Alright, do I get a coffee before going in?" I asked.

"And a peek at the file, you need to know what we need from him," Bobby said, I put Nilde on the floor, and sat across the desk from where Bobby had been sitting when I walked in, he handed me a fair sized file, "Coffee is on it's way, Sue just went out to get some."

"And you're sure my coffee will be in there?" I asked.

"Of course, why would she leave the coffee I told her was for me out?" Bobby responded.

"Because you don't drink coffee," I pointed out.

"Alright, so I'm not the most brilliant person, when it comes to getting you coffee, if she doesn't come back with your coffee Nick, I'll personally walk down to the coffee shop, and get it for you."

"You'll take Nilde with you?" I looked up with an innocent smile.

"Of course," Bobby replied.

Ten minutes later, the blonde I ran into outside the elevator came in, carrying two trays of coffee, "I can't believe the audacity of people, I was at the coffee shop, and the guy behind me in line started ragging on the fact that I had a dog in there, I know Levi doesn't wear all the harnesses, and junk, but he's still licenced, and he still wears the kind of ID he needs to be in those places," she said, then without a pause, she changed topics, "Of course, some people still remember the old courtesies, I bumped into someone coming out of the elevator, on my way out, and he bowed, now if that hadn't been proof enough he was a sweet guy, he had a baby with him too."

Bobby looked at me, and raised his eyebrows, "I'm sorry for being raised with general courtesies," I told him.

"Sue, this is one of my best friends, Nick Stokes, he's in town from Vegas, he's the expert I was telling you about, Nick, this is Sue Thomas, one of my co-workers," Bobby said.

"And this is my daughter, Nilde," I told Sue, looking down at my daughter.

"Nick, Sue is deaf, you have to look at her, when you talk," Jack said.

"Sorry," I said, looking up, "This is my daughter, Nilde."

"She's so cute," Sue put the coffee down on a desk, and crouched next to Nilde's seat, Nilde opened her eyes then, I reached down, and unbuckled the seatbelt, then tapped Sue on the shoulder, since she wasn't looking at me, "If you want to hold her," I nodded down at her, she had reached up, not for me, but for Sue.

"_Bobby, do you think that she'd be able to handle the thought of someone talking directly to her?" I asked him Telepathically._

"_I can barely handle it," Bobby pointed out._

I nodded, and watched Sue pick up Nilde, "Nil-te? Is it?" she asked looking at me curiously.

"Nil-Dae, actually," I said, pronouncing the name more clearly, "It means friend."

"It's an odd name, where did you find it?" Jack asked.

"It's my father's native language," I told him.

"I've never heard a name like that before," Jack said, he wasn't lying, but I could tell by a slight change in the tone of his voice, that he was tense.

"Alright, lets get this done," I said, "Nilde and I have some big plans tonight."

A blonde man, and two women came into the room, the man looked at Jack and said, "I couldn't get anything out of him."

"Ooh, coffee," the blonde woman said, she picked up one cup, "Who wanted English Toffee?" she made a face.

"That would be Nick's," Bobby took it, "And I'd be careful not to insult his taste, he has the skill to make you question everything you ever believed with just a few questions."

"Bobby, don't scare them, just give me my coffee and show me where this guy I'm supposed to question is," I said.

My coffee was handed to me, and Bobby showed me out of the room, we were followed by the rest of the group, I could tell while Sue was comfortable carrying Nilde, she was confused.

I slowed down, so I was next to her, looking at her, I said, "She is quite comfortable with you, if you're uncomfortable holding her, though, you can pass her to Bobby, he's never gotten to hold her."

She nodded, but just readjusted how she was holding Nilde a little, we arrived at two doors side by side, Bobby pointed me to one of them, and everyone went in through the other, I gave them a minute, to get situated, before going in myself, "Hi, Joseph, I'm Nick Stokes," I said, I had taken off the visitor's badge, but was wearing my CSI badge, it was the only form of intimidation I had in this situation, and it looked more official than the visitor badge.

"This is a little out of your jurisdiction, and an interview just a little outside your field of knowledge," he said, motioning to my badge.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not from around here, but where I am from," I said, looking at my badge, then back at him, "I'm the best."

"You don't look like the best, even that English Prig, and the Australian are more intimidating than you."

"Ah, once again, you're right, but you see, I'm not here to intimidate you, I'm here to get answers, as the best, I know, just a few well worded questions would get just a few well worded answers, as the best, I also know that you know exactly what is on the other side of the wall, so I'm not going to play games, you know your rights, you know the system, hell you probably even have your lawyer's number memorized, if you were given a chance to call him, I also know that you put the bomb in that house, what I want to know, is why?"

"I didn't put the bomb in the house," he said, "I told the others that."

"But you see, there must be proof that you did, or you wouldn't be here," I told him, "I know this, I'm supposed to get answers, so answers I will get, though really, if you think about it, the evidence speaks for itself, because everyone claims their innocence."

I sat with my coffee, talking with the 'suspect' for over an hour before I was satisfied with what I got. Outside the interrogation room, Jack, and Bobby were still there, while everyone else had gone to do whatever it was that they had to do. "You really got him talking near the end, how did you do that?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, when they're put together, in just the right order, they tend to work," I replied.

Warrick's POV

I spent a day and a half at Nick's clearing his study, I didn't realise how much stuff he had managed to collect in the last year. I had been using Nick's spare room, while he was gone, and at my house, there were some of my extended family who it seemed to me were out staying their welcome, because I had to sleep during the day, or so that's what I told them, I also told them to keep somewhat of a routine, I would be staying at a friend's place. I headed into work, locking Nick's too quiet house behind me. At the lab, I saw Sara just leaving, "Pulled a double?" I asked.

"Yeah, case is a sort of tough one to figure out," Sara said.

"You'll get it, you always do," I smiled, and waved, as I walked into the building, I waved to the receptionist, I hadn't seen much of her when I was working graveyards, because when I put in overtime it was either out of the lab, after shift, or before shift. "Warrick, a message for you," she said, so I went to the desk.

"What is it?" I asked. She silently handed me the piece of paper, and went back to whatever she was doing. "Grandma?" I looked at the message, "You take the call?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Here when I got here, why?"

"My grandma would've called my cell, so I was wondering," I said.

I pulled out my cell, and hit the fourth button, the phone rang three times, before my grandma answered. "Granma? It's Warrick, why did you call?" I asked.

"You weren't at home, I thought you were at work?" She said.

"I've got some unwanted house guests, an Aunt, from my father's side, and a couple others, overstayed their welcome, I'm staying at a friend's house, hopefully they will get the hint, that I'm not around, and leave." I told her.

"You weren't at work," she said.

"I work evenings now, Grandma, not nights, what is it you wanted?"

"Would you pick up some milk on your way home, we need milk," She said.

"Alright Grandma, I'll bring you some milk, when I come home," I told her.

After saying my goodbyes, I hung up the phone, and continued into the lab.


	13. Chapter 13: Hindrance

Chapter 13: Hindrance

"Warrick, I need you to head straight out, a daycare is reporting that two children are missing, I want you to take the case," Catherine said.

I nodded, and headed back out, the way I came, Catherine handed me the slip, on the way out the door. I parked behind two police cars. "What happened?" I asked an officer, who was standing at the door. "The workers noticed that two children were missing at snack time, they called right away, but they still aren't sure which two are missing, we've got officers combing the area, just incase they wandered off."

I nodded, and walked in, there were daycare workers trying to take care of the children in one room, while also trying to talk to the officers who were interviewing them. I walked up to the woman who seemed to be in charge of the workers. "So where are you in discovering which children are missing?" I asked.

"We've narrowed it down to the children that were not regulars," She told me, "That's probably why we didn't notice it, earlier."

"How many children did you have here today?" I asked.

"At most, we're allowed thirty children, today we had twenty five, we count the children in every room every little while, to be sure that no one escapes, though we also have other safeguards in place, to prevent that."

"How many regulars did you have?" I asked.

"On Wednesday, we usually have about twenty regulars, today though, three of those weren't brought in, of the seven who weren't in on a regular basis, three just weren't usually brought on Wednesday, we know them, the problem is, none of the five that we don't know, will talk, they are all between two and six, and that is what makes it difficult."

"Did any of those children come in together?" I asked.

"Two brothers, ages two and three," she replied, otherwise, no."

"Where are the ones you aren't sure about?" I asked.

"In the infant room, there is an officer trying to talk to them," she said.

I went into the room that she pointed at, the three children were there, there were none any closer to the others, who kept the same distance as strangers, I asked each one a few questions, and cautiously asked them about their siblings, I was able to glean enough information from the children, to determine that none of them had any siblings. "I know which ones are missing, it's the brothers," I told the officer.

Within an hour, I had complete control over the scene, and the officers were listening to me, it was freeing working like this. Over the next little while, I learned how everything worked at the daycare, and soon I had an idea of how someone could get in and out with two children, as long as they were compliant. I headed back to the lab, after the FBI took over, Catherine had called me back. I had a picture from the mother of the children, in my head, though the FBI had taken the picture so that they could get the information out. "An amber alert has gone out for two little boys, two year old Alatos and three year old Alcarcalimo, who were taken from daycare just an hour ago," the radio said, on the way I also passed a tv on a hotel which had the words, "AMBER ALERT" across the top, and their names and ages on the side, with the picture, the words were flashing to attract attention. The picture had Nick holding Nilde, and the two boys were in front of him, facing the camera, it was a studio picture, underneath the picture, "The boys with Nilde and Uncle Turelio. I was in the lab for the rest of the night, when I got back to Nick's place, I fell right to sleep, on the couch. When I woke up, I put the boxes I had filled getting all clan related things out of Nick's office, into the basement, I was on the way up after the last box, when the doorbell rang, "Can I help you?" I asked, opening the door.

"I'm Agent Craynak with the FBI, this is my partner, Agent Johnson, we have a warrant to search the premises, if you would step outside.

I took the Warrant, and read it, they were looking for any signs of a child in the house, and correspondence with someone who may have kidnapped the boys. "Nick wasn't even in the state at the time of the kidnapping, why are you wasting resources on this?" I asked.

"We're following orders," Johnson said.

"Nick has a daughter, that in itself negates the search for signs of a child, her things are all over the house," I told them stepping out of the way.

A uniformed police officer was standing on the porch, as I sat on a chair. "You in on this too?" I asked.

"I'm just following orders too," He said.

"It's eight o-clock the next morning, they should still be searching for suspects, not harassing the innocent," I told him.

An hour later, they came out of the house, each carrying two of the totes I had brought downstairs earlier. "We'll have to go through this at the lab," Johnson said..

"No you will not, those totes have no correspondence in them, I packed them myself, they are full of textbooks, and printouts from the internet, on the paranormal, nothing else," I said.

"We'll have to see," Johnson said.

"You just wait, it was fine, you searching the house, for something that wasn't there, but taking my friend's personal research, I'll have to check with him," I said.

"We have a warrant, you can't stop us," he said.

I dialled Catherine's number, "Cath, the FBI wants to take four boxes of Nick's personal research into the paranormal, and their warrant doesn't cover it, but they're saying that it does, how can I legally stop them?"

"What is in there that will harm Nick?" Catherine asked.

"Just the fact that the warrant doesn't cover it is enough for me to want to stop them, it's Nick's stuff" I said.

"You're right, what are the specifics?"

"The warrant covers correspondence, and anything to do with children," I said.

"Was it in the totes, before they got there?"

"It's the stuff I've been clearing out of Nick's study, to make room for his guest," I told her.

"Compromise, have them look at it in the house," She told me.

"Thanks Cath," I said, without a pause, after hanging up, I dialled Nick's cell, he answered on the third ring, "Nick, I'm sure that you've heard that Nilde's brothers were kidnapped, on the TV, right?"

"They were kidnapped, crap, why does my past have to haunt everyone with my blood?"

"Well the FBI is here, they're looking into you for it, they want to take the things I just cleared out of your office, to their lab, I know you're rather protective of your research, so I'm checking, before they can leave your house."

"See if they'll go through it at the house, I don't want any of that stuff lost, what does the warrant cover?"

"All correspondence," I replied.

"Most of that is conversations on messenger services, with others like me, let me talk to the agents."

I agreed, and handed the phone to Johnson, "The homeowner wants to talk to you,"

"Hello Mr. Stokes... Of course... I'll comply with your wishes," Johnson handed the phone back to me.

"Warrick, they've agreed to let you make photocopies of anything they feel the need to take, so if you bring the photocopier downstairs, it will work a lot better," Nick said.

"Ok, Nick, I'm sorry if this call bothered you," I told him.

"I'm glad you called, Warrick, have you been feeling alright since the incident?" Nick asked as I followed the agents, and the officer into the house.

"I've been feeling a little sick today, but some of that I think is from the fact that I've barely eaten."

"Eat, Warrick, and I'll see you in two days," Nick said.

"You're coming back early?" I asked.

"Yes, I think I need to do some stuff, before Abby comes," Nick replied.

"Can I still stay in you spare room?"

"Of course, when are you going to deem your house safe to return to?"

"When there is no room left in yours," I told him.

"I'll charge you rent if you take to long to kick those relatives out of your house," Nick said.

I agreed, and told him that I'd call him when I knew more about what the FBI had found. I brought the photocopier downstairs, and plugged it in, the agents pulled the first two totes open. I got another tote from the closet, and the officer that had come with them brought one in from the agents car. I sat next to the photocopier, and watched them flip through papers, slowly though a stack built up as the copier couldn't keep up with all the conversations they found. "Research?" one of them asked.

"Conversations with people who believe in the paranormal, Nick is really deep into that kind of stuff, he believes that some urban legends are truth." I said.

The agents left with a tote full of originals, and I closed the boxes they had rejected, they were all books, and printouts that weren't conversations, or letters. I went on Nick's computer after, one of the agents had called in a second Warrant to get any information off the computer, but had decided to copy the hard drive, so I wouldn't have to explain to Nick the fact that the whole computer was gone. I logged on, and did a search on something I had seen consistently throughout the conversations, it talked about 'The Phoenix' a lot, and I wanted to know what it was. I fell asleep in front of the computer, and woke up barely in time to take a shower before work. I logged off the computer, and left for work arriving with only a minute to spare. I was sent out to another scene right away, with Charlie, we started processing, but it was a fairly rank double homicide, and I skipped lunch, at ten Charlie suggested we go for supper, but I passed, in favour of finishing up at the scene. We left the scene at eleven with at car full of evidence, so we didn't stop anywhere, after logging in the evidence it was time to go home. "They've been dead two weeks, another night isn't going to make the case any harder," Charlie said, and suggested we go out for a beer, I told him that I wasn't feeling very good, and went to Nick's looking in his fridge, nothing looked appetizing, so I went to the spare room, and fell asleep within minutes. The next afternoon, I went into work, once again, I was running late, I dropped my bag into the locker room, and went to find Charlie.

"Warrick, when is the last time you ate?" Catherine asked me later, when I took my lunch break, I didn't have the energy to go across the street to get something, at the only place in the area with good food at any time of day, and ended up going back to work within minutes.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"Come on," Catherine took my hand, and led me out of the layout room, Charlie was on his way in, "We'll be back in a bit," she told him.

I was pushed into a booth, at the restaurant, and catherine ordered for both of us, the meal for me was high in both fat, and calories. "Cath, if you're going to force me to eat, when I'm not hungry, let me order something healthy." I told her after the waiter had left.

"When you can't remember the last time you ate, you need to eat meals like the one I ordered you," she told me.

Less than ten minutes after I ate, my stomach started to bother me, as I worked, I ignored it as much as possible, once when Charlie left the room, the urge overwhelmed me, and I ran out of the room, and without the least bit of hesitation, as soon as I was bent over the toilet, my entire lunch came up, and landed in the bowl. I went back into the layout room, and got back to work, after shift, I headed back to Nick's I was tired, and still not feeling very well, so I lay down on the bed, and fell right to sleep. I was never one to sleep for more than a few hours, but for the second day in a row, I had gone straight to sleep, and woken up late. I was exhausted when I got to work, and hadn't eaten. For supper break, I was on my way into the break room, to catch a short nap, Catherine followed me in. "Let's go for lunch," she said.

I looked longingly at the couch, "Warrick, even Charlie noticed that you're acting differently, and he hardly knows you," Catherine said.

"He hardly knows me, that's why," I told her.

"You've hardly been acting like yourself around me either Warrick, come on, lets go for lunch, and we can talk."

Once we were seated, and we had ordered, I found something on the menu that was low in grease, and looked like it might be appetizing. "Warrick, what's going on with you lately, you've been almost late for work everyday this week, you were always early before, you haven't been eating right, and Charlie mentioned that you've been quiet lately, if it's noticeable enough for him to mention it to me, then it's something to be concerned about, so what's up?"

"You approach things both more directly, and less directly than Grissom, he'd look into it, by calling me into his office, and then asking me what's wrong, you are more direct, by presenting the issue, and the evidence, but less, because you disguise it with lunch," I told her.

"You're stalling," Catherine said.

"I can't tell you what's up, Cath, it's big, and it's only going to get bigger, but it will go away, three, four days tops, if I wasn't on a case, I'd take it off, and deal with it, but it'll deal with itself, just take longer," I told her.

"How long if you take time off?"

"Three days, Cath, this is normal for me, every three months, I take a week off, right, well, this snuck up on me, it's no big deal, I can handle it."

"What is it?" Cath asked.

"I can't say, Cath, it's a private family matter," I told her.

"It's affecting your work, Warrick, here's what we do, how many sick days do you have left?"

"Eight," I replied.

"We'll put you down for half a sick day from today, and the next two days, your case will be fine without you, Charlie can handle it, if you work this sick, any defence could use that against you personally, so we aren't going to risk your reputation on this," She told me.

"Ok, but let me finish today, I don't want to look weak," I told her.

"I'm not sending you home, Warrick, I'm taking you there, you're having trouble sitting up straight, I don't know what's wrong, but I know you aren't in any condition to process evidence, let alone drive."

"Fine, fine, can I finish eating first?"

"Of course, you need to eat," Cath said.

I ate a little bit, before my stomach started to bother me, I stopped, and looked at the table, Cath was nearly finished before she gave me a look, "Cath, I can't eat right now, I thought I could, but it's not happening,"

"Alright," She waved a waiter over, "Can you box this up, please?" he nodded, and took my plate.

Nick's POV

I finished what I had gone to DC to do, and decided to fly home right away. The only flight I could get into Vegas went through Miami, with an hour layover, I called an uncle I hadn't seen in years and said, "Uncle Robert, it's Nick, I'm going to be in Miami on layover, around noon tomorrow, you think we could meet up for lunch?" I asked.

"You don't want to meet up with me, and if you do, it'll be for a favour, who do you really want to talk to?" He asked.

"His name is Eric Delco, you probably don't know him, he works at the Miami-Dade crime lab, I need to see him, if possible."

"I'll call him, he is an acquaintance of mine, can I ask why you want to speak with him?"

"Do you have time to talk?" I asked.

"Of course," I've got a few hours,"

I thought back to what Nicole had said earlier that day ...

"Can I look into your future?" she asked, I had learned she truly had the ability of divination, so agreed. "You'll find Nilde's edwin ada soon, you'll discover his true identity as your soul mate," she closed her eyes, "first, you must make amends with your first love, without that, you are doomed to failing in any relationship, even one with your true love. He doesn't have to like you, just let him know, that you care only for your daughter, he's still to be her guardian if something happens to you, right?" Nicole looked at me. "Yes," I replied. "Good, tell him that, tell him you care only that he doesn't hate your daughter for what you did to have her."

I had nodded, I was brought out of my thoughts by my uncle calling my name over the phone, "Sorry, um, I want to talk to him about a mutual friend, would you tell him that for me?"

"I'll do that, can I ask this friend's name?"

"Tim Speedle, Listen, uncle Robert, I'll get you something, to pay for this favour," I told him.

"My wife wants a new wrist watch."

"E-mail me the specs, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you thank you thank you, from me and my lovely bride."

"Uncle Bob, you're doing something important for me, it's the least I can do."

"I still think this is worth a thank you."

"Alright, your welcome."

Not long later, I hung up, it wasn't till the next day, that I got another phone call, "I set it up for you, Nicky, now all you gotta do is show up,"

"Thanks Uncle Bob, I'll talk to you later, when I got the watch ready for you."

"Righto Nicky, talk to you when that happens, thanks again man."

"No problem," I said, and hung up.

At the Miami airport, I sat at a table, in a restaurant, and was soon approached by a man wearing a suit shirt, and dress pants, "Nick Stokes?" he asked.

"If you're Eric Delko." I told him.

He sat across from me, we ordered from the menu, "Separate bills please," He said.

"No, I got it," I told him, "I did ask you to come here."

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

"I don't know if Tim told you about me," I said.

"He did, You had a fight while he was in Vegas."

"We did, did he tell you what it was about?"

"No, why?"

"Because, I want to make amends, but he won't talk to me."

"What do you want?"

"He claims that I wasn't true to myself," I said, sarcastically, "The thing is, some things are more important, I wouldn't even be here, but I want him to know that I don't have anything but respect for him, we both said things that we didn't mean, I want him to know my daughter, or at least know the truth about her, can you help me with that?"

"You sound like H when you do that, I'll help you, because Tim can't stay mad forever, it will destroy him, and he would let it."

"I have three children, two boys and a girl, the boys live with their mother, I'm only a sperm donor for them, but for Nilde, there was more involved, than a donation, I wanted the whole deal to be over with, and I knew the only way that would be possible, was if the mother had a girl, every attempt after included me wishing that it would be a girl. I remember the day of the ultrasound where we were going to find out if it was going to be a boy or a girl, I remember sitting in the chair, next to the exam table, I saw that screen light up, and I watched, as my daughter appeared, I knew before the doctor said anything, that it was going to be a girl, that I would have my daughter, and be done with the charade. There are some things you spend your whole life searching for, for me, that was family, love. It's like, when you're so focussed on a case, on getting the perp, that you start to miss the obvious clues, the signs that are right in front of you, that he's right in front of you and he was the whole time."

"What do you mean?" Erik asked.

"Have you ever gotten a case like that?" I asked.

Erik nodded, "Any case that involves kids, you?"

"Kids, and there was one case that really did, no kids, victim's name was Jane Galloway, she was familiar to me, I stood, I stood there, for ten minutes, just staring at her body, she was stalked, killed, and posed, in highschool, I dated someone, prom night, she got sick, a friend took a picture, of her, hanging over the toilet, just like Jane Galloway was posed, do you know why he killed her, do you know why Jane Galloway was killed?" I asked.

Erik shook his head. "He thought I would like it, he was stalking me, he installed my cable, the signs were there, if I would have just looked around, if I wasn't so self absorbed, I would have seen it, and she never would have been killed, but I was focussed on something else, I could have saved two lives, but I'm self absorbed, and he wanted my attention, that's why he killed her."

"I'm sure that's not it, he would have killed her anyway."

"Some of the things like that, get me thinking, I can't have something happen, and not be prepared, my daughter needs someone, if something happens to me, and I need it to be someone I can trust to raise her right, to protect her, teach her the realities of life, without being cruel, as kids, Tim was always the one getting me into trouble, but he'd always get me out, always protecting me from the bullies, my brother, my sisters, I'm the youngest by a lot and they picked on me, when we were fifteen, he even took a bullet for me, saving my life, I know he'd do the same for my daughter, if he needed to, that's the way he is, he'd take a bullet for someone innocent, someone that needed help he'd do all he could to give it to them, when I was nine, I had actually already figured out that, I'm gay, nine years old, a week after I told Timmy, my parents went out, my sisters all had dates, and my brother he was married by then, couldn't be bothered with me, they got this babysitter, Timmy came to visit me the next day, I was sick, I didn't have to tell him why, he knew, things like that cement it in my mind, the only way my daughter can be happy if something happens to me, is if I make amends with Tim, and since he won't listen to me,"

"You want me to talk to him?"

Cath's POV

Warrick slowly started to look sicker, and sicker, as we sat there, waiting for the bill, and his boxed up food, as soon as I arrived, I put cash on the table, took the food, and helped Warrick up, he leaned heavily on me, groaning in pain occasionally, I didn't know what was wrong, but it was my goal at that point to be sure that he would be ok. At my SUV, Warrick grabbed onto the rear door handle, and crawled into the back seat, he lay across the seat, holding his stomach tightly. I walked around the car, to my door, and got in. "I'm staying at Nick's my dad's sister is at my place," he said, it was almost a groan, I could tell he was in a lot of pain.

At Nick's house, Warrick was barely able to move, I suggested I should bring him to the hospital, and he said, "I go to the hospital for this, they'll be running tests for a week, won't know what's wrong with me, and won't believe me when I tell them, what's the point."

"Alright," I said, and helped him to the house, as soon as we were inside, he pointed to the couch, I put him on the couch, and he curled up in a fetal position. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

Warrick shook his head, I shrugged, and went into the kitchen, opening the fridge I saw what looked like Sara's fridge would probably look like, right before she went shopping. It had fresh fruit and vegetables on the shelves, and I could see some in the drawers, there was no milk, very little orange juice, other juices were non-existent, the lettuce was limp, the carrots looked dry, the oranges and apples were turning colour, and Warrick's leftovers were the only ones in the fridge.

"Not a lot of food in here," I said, opening the freezer, it was full of meat, something I wouldn't find at Sara's Nick had a thing of ice cream, and concentrated orange juice. While I went through Nick's cupboards looking for something to give Warrick, the phone rang, I looked at the caller ID, and didn't recognize it, not that I would answer anyway. The answering machine squawked to life, "Warrick, I'm on my way home, so if you got a girl in my house, I suggest you mover her out of the main areas, I don't want to come home and subject my daughter to seeing something like that. I was doing some thinking over the last couple days, Warrick, you might want to be prepared for your most disliked problem to show up early, if you call into the pharmacy nearest my house, they will fill your prescription for the cheapest price you'll find anywhere, if you could also pick up some formula for Nilde, I would appreciate it, be home in two hours. By the way, Warrick, I'm completely out, so please, I know there was none left at the house either."

I gave the machine a look, before walking back into the living room, "Warrick, where's Nick's medicine cabinet?" I asked the groaning man.

"Kitchen, small top cupboard," he said.

I nodded, and went back in, the cupboard he had been talking about had one shelf, clear to the back of unmarked vials, in different colours, the other shelf had vitamins, I had never pegged Nick for a health food guy, but his entire kitchen seemed to be just that, I moved the vitamin bottles around, and saw a bottle of Tylenol in the back, I pulled it out, and saw that it was expired, three months ago, behind it, I saw the bottle of Vicodin from when he was thrown out of the window, it looked nearly full, I was confused, he looked to have not been in pain for long after that, I had assumed that he had taken the pills. Putting the bottles back in the cupboard, I looked at the vials, there was a list on the door, "Blue- ally1, red-ally2, green-mem, Orange-Warrick, Purple-Colic(not likely)" I laughed for a second.

The list flipped up, there was more writing, "For Warrick, if he forgets to pick up his prescription on time, Mix with OJ concentrate, and 2liters of water, will relieve symptoms, I swear by this stuff, have him sip it slowly. Have fun man, David," there was a number written on the corner of the sheet. I pulled out my cell phone, and dialled.

"David here," the voice was way to chipper for that time of night.

"Hi, My name is Catherine Willows, I work with Nick and Warrick, your number is in Nick's medicine cabinet, Warrick's sick, and can't tell me how to help him, since the number was on a sheet concerning Warrick, maybe you can help."

"I can, if you tell me what seems to be wrong,"

"He's in a lot of pain, that's all I know," I said.

"Is the sheet you found, instructions?"

"Yes."

"Follow them, the Orange vial, in 2liters of OJ made from Concentrate," David hung up.

I shook my head, as I shifted through the vials, I pulled out an orange one, and put it on the counter, I made the juice, and added the vial, stirring it in, as soon as the juice was ready, I poured Warrick a glass, and put the rest in the fridge. I put the glass on the table, "I have to get back to work, Warrick, but there is something here, that Nick had, the note said it was for you, seems everyone knows what's going on but me."

Nick's POV

I got on the plane, for home, with Erik's promise to try to talk to Tim for me, that was the best he could offer, and it was the most I could ask for. On the way home, I thought to call ahead, I knew Warrick was staying there, and cynically I thought that he might have a girl in my spare room. I was falling for him, but I couldn't imagine him liking me as more than a friend. I picked up the phone between the seats, and punched in a calling card number, no one really thought about it, but that was the cheapest way to talk if you needed to make a phone call while on a plane. The machine picked up, "Warrick, I'm on my way home, so if you got a girl in my house, I suggest you move her out of the main areas, I don't want to come home and subject my daughter to seeing something like that..." I kept talking for a bit, before realizing I would be home before Warrick anyway, as it was only about eight at night.

I looked down at Nilde who was sleeping peacefully in the seat next to me, she was already sleeping better than when we had left, and she hadn't reacted when the person behind me had been scared by a flight attendant. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep. "MOMMY!" I heard, and saw the boys sitting on the floor in some basement, the scene played out like a movie in my head, the FBI could soon be heard upstairs, then the door opened, and two came down, carrying rifles, sweeping the room, the shorter of the two handed her gun to the other, as soon as they were sure the room was clear, and picked the boys up, they were crying, and they clung to her, "No signs of the hostages from the grocery store robbery, but the boys from the daycare are down here, we're bringing them up now." the male said into a radio.

I woke up with a start, and looked at Nilde, she was still sleeping, what had woken me up, "Please remain seated until the plane has come to a stop at the gate, and the piolet has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign, thank you for flying with American airlines, have a great stay in Las Vegas."

I picked up the bag, once we were taxiing down the runway to the gate, I was anxious now to be home with my daughter. I waited patiently for someone to let us out, and walked down the aisle as fast as the rest of the people, I got our bags, and went down to the taxis, I got in, and gave the driver my address. I stepped into the house, to see Warrick on the couch, a half glass of Orange Juice on the table, "Warrick, what are you doing, here?" I asked.

"I'm sick, Catherine brought me home," He told me, he had a pained look on his face, he also looked half asleep.

"Oh, is that the stuff in the orange vial?" I asked

"It's not plain orange Juice, Catherine made it, she was going through your medicine cabinet,"

"Probably found the note, is that what it is?" I asked.

Warrick nodded, and took another sip of the juice. "I'm going to put Nilde in her bed, she should sleep for another hour at least," I told him.

"I heard your message, but I haven't been up to leaving the house," Warrick said.

"That's alright, I'll head out, get your prescription filled, get formula," I said.

"Your arm, how is it?" Warrick asked.

"Good, I'll be back in ten or fifteen minutes," I said, I walked up the stairs, I laid her down in the crib.

Warrick waved from the couch, as I left the house I once again saw my neighbour walking down the street, she wasn't someone I normally talked to, but she spoke first, "Hi, Nick Stokes, right?" she asked.

I nodded, "Listen, I'm sorry for calling the cops on you the other day, I don't normally but into other people's lives, but with the baby crying so much, I thought that maybe something had happened to you," she said.

"I'm glad someone was willing to, nothing new wrong, just my daughter wasn't feeling very well," I said.

"I hope they didn't take her," she said.

"Oh, no, her Edwin Ada is home, I'm just running out to get some things," I told her.

"I have to go," she said, as a car turned the corner, she turned around, and ran down the street, like a scared rabbit.

When the car came closer, I saw that the man looked angry, his hand was in the centre console, just before he drove by, he pulled out a pistol, and fired two shots, one hit me in the leg, and I grabbed it, "Bastard," I said, memorizing the licence plate, I looked down, and saw it was just a graze, I turned, and walked back to the house, he had shot at the house right next to mine too, when I stepped in, Warrick had his cell in his hand, "I thought this was a safe neighbourhood," he looked closer at me, and pushed me to sit in the leather chair, his tight voice a testament to the pain he was still in. Taking my first aid kit out, he came back into the room, and cut my pant leg a little more, proof that it was just a graze, but it was still bleeding a lot, and Warrick wrapped a bandage tightly around the wound, then I went to change. When an officer arrived, I gave my statement, then said, "I have to go to the store, my daughter will be waking up soon, and I've been to busy to go shopping."

The officer nodded, and I left the house, walking down the street once again, I looked carefully, I was also now wearing my badge and gun which had previously been sitting in the gun safe. The store clerk gave me a curious look, when I walked in, I dropped off Warrick's prescription, and then walked down the aisles to get the other things I needed, formula, diapers, milk, and any other items I was running short on. I picked up the prescription, and went to the till where I paid for everything. I had four bags, limping back down to my house, when I was nearing my house, I saw a guy wearing a vest processing the yards where the bullets should have landed, I kept walking, myself hating people standing over me when I was trying to process a scene. I stopped at my Tahoe, and pulled my kit out of the back, opening it, and pulling out a large paper bag, and evidence tape. The baggy jeans were hanging on the shower rod, to dry, the blood was nearly dry, when I got home already, and Warrick laughed as I put the bag down. "You're to easily amused when you're sick, Warrick. I had just sealed the evidence bag, when the guy came to the door, "You're the one that was grazed by the bullet?" he asked.

"Yes, I was, here are the jeans I was wearing," I handed him the bag, he looked at it, then at me, "I'm a CSI, I'm off on sick leave right now," I told him, "But old habits are hard to break."

Two weeks later

I went back to work a week after I had planned, because the Nanny hadn't been approved soon enough, with her moved in and settled, and my casts off, Abby had come and gone from my house, and Warrick had never left, except for work, sleeping on the couch, to avoid his family, or whoever it was that had taken over his house. Warrick drove me to work, though I had looked longingly at my bike which sat beside the house. At the lab, Catherine hadn't arrived yet, Warrick had to tear me away from the instructions I was giving the nanny, Tara. While we sat in the break room, Warrick was doing paperwork on the coffee table, I had nothing to do, so I wandered over to the fridge, and opened it. One whiff had me wanting to close it again, but instead I pulled a garbage can over, "Has no one emptied this thing the whole time I was gone?" I asked, pulling out containers, some were empty, that had just been shoved back in, some were full of mouldy food, one container of yogurt in the back had an expiry date for a week before the explosion, I tossed that. "What's this?" Catherine asked from the doorway, as I shut the fridge, which now only had four lunch bags, and some yogurt that was still good. There were some pickles and such in the back too.

"Nick caught a whiff of the fridge," Warrick said without looking up.

"Warrick, I asked you to do that yesterday, when you were sitting here," Catherine said.

"Sorry, I must not have heard you," Warrick said.

"Right, Nick, I've got a DB at the Bellagio for you, if you took your firearms qualification."

"Last week, Warrick babysat, but he wouldn't let me drive today," I said.

"I know, Keys for a county truck, until you're allowed to drive your standard again, and Nick, see if you can get a paint job off the county, something a little lighter, it's not good to be driving a black vehicle at four in the afternoon, it overheats too easily."

I nodded, and Catherine handed me a folder, a set of keys and the case slip. Warrick tossed me his extra keys, at the front desk, I filed the paperwork for the truck, and walked out the door, driving automatic immediately started to frustrate me, I was glad I didn't have a passenger. I parked next to Warrick's Tahoe, and pulled my things out of the backseat, I didn't want to mess up his system, I put a bag down on the floor of the Tahoe so that I wouldn't have to clean it, when I gave it back, at the end of the week, since that was when I was allowed to drive standard again. O'Reilly was on swing again, I found out, as I walked into the lobby, he was waiting for me, "Nick, I haven't seen you in awhile, how's the leg?"

"Good, doc won't let me drive standard yet, I hate automatics, they are way to simple,"

"The county has an automatic?"

"One, figures, so, what do we have?" I asked.

"Maid found them, Male thirty five, single gunshot wound to the temple, Female, twenty-two, two shots to the back." he told me.

Two uniforms stood outside the room, the door was open, with tape across it, I pulled went under the tape, and surveyed the room, the woman was face down on the floor, blood had flowed out beneath her, the man was on the bed, blood had dripped down the side of his face. I stopped moving, in front of the balcony doors, it was only the second floor, if the perp was on this side of the room, as was indicative by the woman facing the door, and shot in the back, The man was tucked in, including both arms, the shot was not self inflicted, he hadn't moved after a shot like that. "What do you see?" O'Reilly asked.

"The perp stood right next to him when he took the first shot, and instead of reaching across to shoot the woman, he walked over here, he was here, when she was shot," I told him.

"You can tell that much already?"

"You're married, right?" I asked.

"I was."

"You don't sleep through someone getting out of bed, you can see where she was cuddled up next to him, she scrambled across the bed to get out, I don't sleep through Warrick getting up for a drink of water down the hall, let alone if someone got out of bed from next to me, he would have to have been killed first, he's still all tucked in."

"I couldn't sleep through my wife getting up in the middle of the night, but he could have been a heavy sleeper."

"Not that heavy, she was shot twice, she would have screamed, when she got hit."

I took pictures of the room, then started processing, "Hotel log says they were to check out in the morning,"

"How long were they here?" I asked.

"A week, from Ohio,"

"Names?"

"Mr. James Smith checked in, with his wife, and three month old daughter, paid cash."

"Three month old, there is no evidence of a child here," I said looking around, I spotted the closet, and pulled it open, laying in a bassinet was a blanket, and a note, I read the Note, "I took my daughter back from some kidnappers, don't come looking for me,"

"Pull the surveillance tapes," I told O'Reilly "we're looking for someone with a baby, or someone overweight."

The coroner took the bodies shortly after I discovered the missing baby, I finished processing the scene, and returned to the lab, with the tapes, and all the evidence I had collected. I set up in the AV lab, after logging in the evidence to be processed, each tech was given some samples to analyse, while I took the remote for the screen I was using, I found the time of the murders, and rewound the tape, from there, not one person entered the room, from the time the couple had walked in the night before, room service had been met at the door, and the first maid had been turned away. I watched again, this time the other way, hoping to spot someone in the hallway, no one went near the door, I played the five hours from the murder to when the bodies were discovered, for someone leaving, and spotted a woman walk out, she looked down the hallway, where there was another camera facing the room. I shuffled through the pile of tapes to find the one from that camera, and fast forwarded it to the right time code, she stepped out of the room, and walked with her head down to the elevator. I played it in real time, she might have looked up once, so I played the section in slow motion several times to freeze the frame in the right place. I worked for the entire shift, without taking a break to eat, Warrick came into the room where I was sorting through evidence, an hour after shift ended, "Time to head home," he told me, pulling on a pair of gloves. Together we packed up the evidence, and I signed it into lockup.

"Sorry I'm running so late, Cath and I were at a triple, we didn't get out there until eight."

"I had a double, and a kidnapping, but I did get a break, the woman looked at the security camera on her way out, carrying the baby, O'Reilly is working on an ID," I said.

We walked into the house, and Warrick went straight to the office which was quickly becoming his room, I wasn't even comfortable going in there anymore. I waited until Warrick's light was off, then made sure the house was closed up, and locked, my eyes glowed for illumination, as I walked into Nilde's room to check on her. She was just waking up, I smiled, and picked her up, I carried her down the stairs, in the kitchen, I warmed up a bottle for her, and sat at the kitchen table where I opened a cookbook, and started to look for meals for the next day. Finding some things that looked good, I memorized the recipes, and put the book away, in its hiding place, Warrick couldn't know all my secrets. Looking down at Nilde, I saw she was almost done the bottle. The second she was finished the bottle, I turned her to rest on my shoulder, and burped her. I brought her up to her room, where I laid her in her crib, she was still awake, and looked up at me. "Good Night my girl," I said, after switching the baby monitor to the channel that the one in my room was on. Walking out of the room, I turned, and allowed my eyes to illuminate the room, and check for any changes in the room, from when I had been in there last. Laying in my bed, I relaxed, and fell asleep. When I woke up, it wasn't light out yet, looking at the clock I saw it was only three thirty, I closed my eyes to see what had woken me up, I sensed movement in Nilde's room, and it wasn't her or Tara. I got out of bed, and took my gun out of the night stand, moving silently out into the hall, I heard more than one person moving in the room, it surprised me to realise that the baby monitor wasn't working in my room. I opened the door slowly, and pointed my gun at the guy closest to Nilde's crib, "move away from my daughter," I told him in my most stern voice. He raised his hands, and took a step back, "Both of you, come this way, move slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them."

As I herded the pair down the stairs to the couch, I banged on Warrick's door. The pair was soon sitting on my couch, and Warrick came down the stairs, "War, I've got some zip ties in one of the drawers, can you get some, and call Brass?"

With one look at the two strange men on my couch, Warrick nodded, and left the room. "If we were in Texas, you'd both be dead, I could have claimed I saw to strange forms hovering over my daughters bed, and that pesky little law sometimes extends to people raised in Texas, in other states, I carry this gun legally," I told him, "You're lucky to be alive."

Once I had tied their hands, behind their backs, put the gun on the side of the arm chair, delving slightly into their minds "Why were you in my daughters room?" I was incredibly angry.

One of the men was scared, the other was calm. "We're not scared of you," he said.

"Your friend would beg to differ, and I mean beg," I told him.

"You really are one of them," the first guy said with awe in his voice.

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

"Only one of them, could read our minds," he said.

The second guy spoke up, "The phoenix is the most powerful of creatures, he must not raise his own children, if he has any, just as the powerless must not raise them, less they feel either inadequate, or out of place."

"You should feel both inadequate, and out of place in my home, if I'm as powerful as you think I am, why would I not notice you breaking into my house, and taking my daughter?"

"You were supposed to be at work, you were supposed to start back at work tonight."

There was a knock at the door, Warrick went to answer it, "He's got the guys in the living room," Warrick said, and he came into the room, followed by Brass.

"Hey, Warrick, will you check on Nilde, their entrance was through the window, and I didn't get a chance to close it, I don't want it cooling off to much in there, her temp has been low lately, and I don't want her getting sick."

Warrick nodded, and went up the stairs. "So, Warrick has been helping you?" Brass asked.

"My job pays good, but I can't afford the price of bribing companies to get a nanny within two days, I needed help, Warrick offered, these men however did not help," I said, then picked up my gun, "SIT DOWN."

"You must have pretty good hearing," Brass said,

"That makes up for some other things I'm not good at."

"Like what, you're the Phoenix," number two said.

"I don't even know you," I turned to him.

"You don't know me, but you know my brother, he's been helping your family for most of his life, to hide any little problems, I was trying to take care of your little problems."

"You took Ninye's boys," I said.

"I took them for you, they shouldn't be raised by those without talent," number two started to stand up again.

"SIT" I had lowered my gun, and he took the opportunity to stand up.

"I'm protecting your children," he said.

"If you believe what you say, why didn't you check if they were mine before you took them, I claimed them, yes, but that was to protect the one who really did father those children, only Nilde is mine, I just take care of my family, and my family does not have the talents you claim I have," I told them.

Warrick came downstairs, "She started crying, when you started yelling," he was carrying Nilde, I relaxed immediately, and put the gun on the table behind me, reaching out for my daughter. As soon as Nilde was in my arms the tension melted from my muscles, and I forgot my problems.

I settled into the overstuffed arm chair, Warrick helped Brass bring the pair out to his car, "He'll have the paperwork ready for us when we go in for work tomorrow."

Warrick's POV

Nick nodded, but didn't move, "Come on Nick, we should get some sleep," I reached out to him.

Nick seemed to be in some sort of daze, as I helped him out of the chair, wrapping my arms around him, matching his posture, as I helped him up the stairs, at the top of the stairs, I stopped him in his tracks, "She's asleep, let's put her in her own bed," I said.

Nick wouldn't let go of his daughter, so I helped him to his room, where I settled him into his bed, "Don't go," Nick grabbed onto my arm, "Don't leave us."

I reached over, and turned out the light, the hall light, and the living room lights were still on, the doors were locked, but the security system wasn't set, and Nick's gun was still on the end table. I went to the bed, and crawled in on the side opposite Nick, then pulled him to my chest, we soon looked like a proper family, albeit the female was in the wrong place. Nick snuggled into me, and wouldn't let me move.

I settled against the headboard, and looked down at Nick, Nilde was sound asleep in his arm, and he was staring into space, though the wall was between, true space and us.

"Have you ever flown, gotten away from everything, from their eyes?" Nick asked as I was just about asleep.

"No, I'm not particularly fond of heights," I told him.

"We have to go flying together, I've just got a new rig, it's particularly good, because, you can go up with a partner, will you come flying with me?" he asked.

"I'm not particularly fond of heights, Nick."

"Come on, it will be fun," He told me.

"Alright, all right," I said, running my hand through my hair, "We can go on our next day off."

"How about in the morning?" Nick asked.

"Nick, what if we end up with a long walk back?" I asked.

"We can bring my truck, up, then we can walk to the nearest town, I've got GPS, I'll have my cell, if we're going to be late, I'll call us a cab."

"You'll call a cab, to the middle of nowhere?" I asked.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Besides the fact that any cab company would find us insane for calling a cab to a location using GPS information.

Omniscient POV

The movement of the pair was reminiscent of a family together, for a long time, but they also had a hesitancy between them, that indicated they weren't quite sure where they stood with each other. The pair soon fell asleep. Morning came, and someone woke up in another room, she walked down the stairs, and into the living room. She turned from the living room, and ran back up the stairs, throwing open the bedroom door, "What is a gun doing sitting in the middle of the living room?" she yelled.

Warrick was startled, and jumped from the bed, Nick however, barely moved.

"What is a gun..."

"Doing in the middle of the living room? There was a break in last night, it affected Nick pretty badly, I never got around to cleaning up," Warrick told her.

"Well, I'm not touching that thing," she said.

"You don't have to, Tara, just stay in the hall, make sure, if Nilde wakes up, you get to her before Nick wakes up, and if Nick wakes up first, he knows I'm still here," Warrick headed down the stairs.

Warrick picked up the gun, and checked it, he hadn't had a chance to really do that before taking Nick up the stairs. Not surprisingly, the gun was clean, cleaner than he expected, even from Nick. "Failed your fire arm qualification my ass, missed it, is more like it," he said to himself as he pushed the clip back into the gun. Tara stepped away from Warrick, when he got to the top of the stairs.

"How do you carry that so casually?" she asked him.

"It's part of the job, we just get used to it, Nick carries his like his kit at times, doesn't even notice it."

Warrick went back into Nick's bedroom, and opened the bedside drawer, putting the gun in. Warrick shut the drawer, and reached down to pick Nilde up, Nick woke slightly when his daughter's weight was no longer in his arms, "It's okay, Nicky, just letting you get some extra sleep," Warrick said softly.

Leaving the room, Tara offered to take Nilde from Warrick, "No, it's quite alright, I've got her." Warrick said.

"I have a feeling this is going to be the easiest job I will ever have," Tara said following Warrick down the stairs.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Between you and Nick, I've spent nine hours here alone, with Nilde, I've spent more time here alone, than with her, you two take care of her as much as you possibly can," Tara said, "Not that it's a bad thing, I hear of some families where the kid is passed from one Nanny to the other, day to night, the parents have very little contact with their kids, I can't understand that,"

"Neither can I, nor can I understand people who can spend months with their children, then without a thought, give them up, but there is one case of that which I am thankful for, you never knew Nicky before he had his daughter, he was jumpy, the slightest thing, he'd do some things no one could explain, now he does things no one can explain, but it's not so bad, cuz he's got his reasons now."

"Explain the gun, please?" Tara asked.

"In our line of work, it is suggested we carry a gun, Nick, though he never admits it, is a nearly perfect shot, when he wants to be, he either missed his last firearms test, or miscalculated mine, causing him to fail, my guess, is he missed, and cashed in a favour or two to reschedule, without him losing face, for missing, just failing, no big deal, I'm the only one who he's ever shot with, and I've only seen him miss his shot with a pistol ten times, in six years, as far as I know, it was on purpose, to make me look better."

Warrick moved around the kitchen with ease, "You're comfortable in most any situation, aren't you?" she said.

"Unless it involves the big boss men, yeah, I guess I am."

"Big boss men?"

"God, mainly, but the Mayor, the Sheriff, the director at the lab, and the assistant director at the lab, are fairly uncomfortable people to be around."

"You're a strange man, Warrick Brown, a strange man," Tara shook her head.

"I aim to please," Warrick inclined his head, then took the bottle out of the microwave, testing it against his wrist before giving it to Nilde.

Warrick had relaxed to the feel of his friend's daughter in his arms, the gentle sounds of her breathing, and eating, and the noises from the kitchen, as Tara moved around, making breakfast for herself. The doorbell startled Warrick out of whatever thoughts ran through his head, and he made a move to get up, "Don't, I've got it," Tara said, passing through the room.

The door was opened to a young officer, "Is Warrick Brown here?" he asked.

Warrick got to his feet, as Tara stepped aside, "Shut the door, officer, we don't want to be cooling the entire desert."

Warrick's POV

"Sir, I got this address from your grandmother, it seems no one in your neighbourhood knows where you've been in the last couple weeks."

"I don't believe I've been home more than two minutes in the last three weeks, I've been helping a friend with some things, can I ask what the problem is?"

"Yes, you're the Registered owner of a house where five people were killed yesterday,"

"Metro lab's been real busy lately so it got sent to the other lab, or it wouldn't have taken so long to find me," I replied.

"How do you know Metro lab's been busy?"

"That's where I work, yes, I own a house, no I haven't been there lately, no I'm not renting it out, though I was just about to tell my family I'd be charging them rent as of the first of the month,"

"You'll need to come down, to identify the bodies," the officer said.

"Call my father," I told the officer, "He'll go down,"

"The detective will want to ask you some questions."

"Right, I'm here until further notice, so he can come by," I said.

"Why won't you come down to the station?"

"There was a break-in here last night, the home owner is spooked, I'm not leaving right now,"

"Spooked?"

"Scared, out of his wits," I told him, "It's not the first break-in and he's uncomfortable."

It was less than an hour later, that the doorbell rang again, Nick could be heard moving around upstairs, "Can I help you?" I asked, when Tara let a detective into the front porch, I was in the middle of changing Nilde, and barely glanced up at him.

"I would like to know about your house, and the family who were living there. "My aunt, her husband, and three kids, ten, twelve, and fourteen," I said, after thinking for a second.

"How long have they been there?" he asked.

"A month, a month and a half," I shrugged, then looked at Tara, "You've been here two weeks right?"

She nodded, and I turned to the detective, "Yeah, a month and a half, I've not spoken to either my aunt or her husband, for a month, the kids, I saw them," I exhaled thinking, "probably two weeks ago, when I moved out."

"So you lived there for two weeks without seeing either of the adults?"

"I worked nights at the time, I slept while they were home, when I was up, they were at work," I said.

"And the kids, you babysat, I assume?"

"They were at school, but I did try to spend some time with them, their parents spent more time trying to ignore them, then with them, I was helping them with their homework on a regular basis."

Nick's POV

I got out of bed, and heard Warrick's voice in the livingroom, talking about his family, he wasn't moving, but someone else was moving around, a male voice came from the same area, but it moved back and forth around the room, whoever it was, was pacing. I took my gun from the bedside drawer, silently thanking Warrick for putting it back, when he got up. I moved slowly out of the room, and down the stairs, the man paced in front of Where Warrick sat on the couch, holding Nilde, Tara was at the diningroom table, the man turned to me, and put his arms up, "Sir, it's ok, I'm a detective, with Las Vegas police department,"

Warrick turned to me, and said, "He is, Nick, you can lower your gun."

I lowered my gun to my side, "Sorry detective."

"He's jumpy, we had a break-in here last night," Warrick said.

"They tried to take my daughter," I said, moving to the couch. Warrick took the gun from me, gently, and put it on the end table, before letting me take Nilde. I settled onto the couch next to Warrick, who continued to talk to the detective. After awhile, the detective thanked Warrick and left.


	14. Chapter 14: Birthday

Chapter 14: Birthday

At four, Warrick and I drove into work, I went into the lab, and brought my evidence into a layout room, where I started working, Warrick went to the break room to meet up with Catherine. I needed trace results, and wasn't looking forward to going in there, as Tim was the new trace technician. Finally I couldn't wait any longer, "Tim, I need the results from the double murder at the Bellagio."

"They aren't ready yet, I'm backed up," Tim said.

"I gave them to you last night," I said, "Greg was the DNA tech, and he ran trace faster than you."

Tim cut a swab onto the counter, and I wasn't to happy about it, it was easy enough to cut it into the sample container, so it bothered me that he risked contaminating the evidence. "Have you even started running my evidence?" I looked over the counter at the work he was doing, and saw him doing day shift samples.

I turned to leave, and heard him mumble something under his breath, I knew I wasn't supposed to hear it, but I turned, and said, "I've been working at this lab for seven years, that's seven years longer than you, and this job, isn't just a paycheck for me, it's my life, the only thing I care about more than the victim, the families, and justice, is my daughter, so don't go calling me a breeder, breeders don't care about anyone, know this, I've never had a problem being true to myself."

I walked out of the room, and back to my layout room, after two minutes, I went into the locker room, and pulled my discman out of my locker, flipping through my CD's I found the one I wanted, and headed into the layout room.

Greg's POV

I got in to work twenty minutes early, as had become my habit, when I started doing field work, I wandered out of the locker room, and down the hall to DNA, I was still friends with the lab rats, to them, I still was one, the DNA tech for swing was still at the desk, doing some routine paperwork, "Hey Josie, what's up?" I asked.

"Not much, all the action has been in trace, I was talking to Tim, the new tech, and I guess he and Nick Stokes nearly got into it, at the beginning of shift, and Nick's been in a mood ever since, Tim wouldn't say what the argument was about, but I'm just glad I haven't got his results yet, that way Mia can bring them to him, or, tomorrow when he comes in, hopefully he'll be in a better mood."

Just then the machine beeped, and Josie groaned, then it was obvious she had an idea, in a sing song voice, she said, "Greg, will you bring him his results?" she spun back and forth in her chair, looking at me innocently.

"Depends, are they, bad, or good?" I asked.

"I'll be running the unknown through Codis, and the child is related to the victims," She said.

"I'll do it just this once, but next time I have something important on your table, you put a rush on it," I said.

"All right," Josie said, and handed me the print outs.

I walked out of DNA considering Nick's mood, and the argument he had supposedly been in. Layout room four was dead quiet, Nick sat over his evidence, headphones in his ears, his discman had a clear top, and I tried to read the label of the CD, but it was shiny on both sides, it was either burnt, or double sided. "Nick, I've got your DNA results."

Nick took them, but before he looked at them, he said, "Greg, never trust a man who thinks he saved your life, when you really saved his, he'll always stab you in the back later."

"Nick, are you dwelling on your argument with Tim?" I asked.

"He's no more than a lowly lab rat, that's the difference between you and him, you know that, Greg, you always had ambition to be more, but he just wanted the paycheck, never truly cared about the work, good work Greg, keep it up, this from Josie?" he asked finally looking at the paper in his hands.

"Yeah, she's kinda scared of you, Nick, you can't keep picking fights with the lab techs," I told him.

"He started it, he called me a breeder, and I just told him what I thought of that, then I walked out, he's the one who has the problem, I'm not trying to scare the other lab techs."

"Alright, Nicky, your shift is almost over, how about I help you pack up?" I asked.

"Thanks Greg, I'll wait for Warrick, he drove tonight," he told me.

"Alright, see you around, Nick," I said, and left.

Walking past the DNA lab on my way to Grissom's office, I poked my head in to see Josie sanitizing the equipment she had used on preparing some samples. "Josie, he was practically cheerful, smiling, and offering advice, I even got a compliment," I waved at her, and left.

Grissom gave me a case slip right away, and told me I would be working with Sara, as we walked out of the lab, we saw Tim, "Greg, can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Meet you at the truck?" I looked at Sara, she nodded.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"I saw you talking to Nick, don't listen to the stuff he says about me, he's the one who has a problem with me," Tim said.

"How about this, I'll make my own decisions, but you might want to refrain from using derogatory names for straight people around Nick, it seems to bother him a bit more than usual lately."

"He told you what I said?" Tim asked.

"Listen, I know you were friends when you were kids, but Nick's grown up, I don't know the specifics, but part of it has to do with something that happened about ten years ago, in Texas," I stopped talking, "I shouldn't say anything, sorry, I have to go, got a case."

Warrick's POV

Charlie and I got back from our scene about one, Grissom pulled me aside, "Warrick, Nick's in some sort of mood, he got in an argument with one of the lab techs on your shift, he came to me, because Catherine had already left, when he decided that he should say something, I don't know what happened between them in the past, but help Nick deal with it, so at least he can move on."

"He's tried to make peace, Tim doesn't want to hear it, I'll talk to Nick again, and get him to go home, if Charlie doesn't mind starting without me?"

"You go on home too, Warrick as you were just off sick," Charlie said, "I'd rather you not get sick again."

I nodded, and turned to go to layout room four, it was Nick's usual room, unless it was occupied, he was sitting hunched over the table headphones on, bobbing his head to whatever music he had on. I hit the stop button, "Come on, it's time to go home," I told him.

Nick and I packed up the evidence as we had before, and headed home. Nick stood at the bottom of the stairs, for me to shut my light off, then I could hear him walking around the house, locking up. Once Nick had checked on Nilde, and gone into his own room, I got up, and walked down the hall to his room as well, his light was off, but I knocked, "yeah?" Nick asked, I could hear him moving around.

"Can I come in?" I asked.

He voiced the affirmative, and I opened the door, the room was pitch black, Nick could be heard, and I could feel him moving to my right, I sat on the bed, and waited for my eyes to adjust, once they had, I was able to see Nick, he pulled on some boxers, and sat on the bed next to me, "What's up?" Nick asked.

"Grissom asked me to talk to you, I guess Tim complained about you, so I'm talking, what do you think happened from his point of view?"

"His point of view, I'm not liking getting into his head, sorry, I'll tell it from my point of view. He said something, I probably wasn't supposed to hear it, but he said it, and I did hear, I turned around, and I commented on it, then I left, nothing I wouldn't have done to you, or Greg," Nick said, "I didn't even comment, that my samples were taking a particularly long time, or that there were better ways of preventing cross contamination, when working with trace swabs,"

Nick and I talked for a few hours, relaxing side by side on his bed, falling asleep just before dawn. 7 came way to early the next morning, Nick slipped out of bed, and I went back to sleep, I didn't wake up again until ten. The sound of rattling lids greeted me as I went down the stairs, nick had one pot on the stove, water boiling with the lid off, there were two frying pans, one had sausage, the other looked like it had two pieces of chicken. Sitting in some sort of sauce which was bubbling occasionally, Nick stood over the counter, rolling something on the counter, "Morning, Warrick, can you pull the sausages out, they're done, and I need to get the grease off of them, before I can wrap them," Nick said, without turning around. I pulled some paper towel off the roll, and put it on a plate, using the tongs next to the stove, I moved each one out of the greasy pan.

"So what are you making?" I asked.

"Pigs in a blanket, for breakfasts when we're running late," he replied.

I looked around the kitchen and saw the remains of Nick's breakfast on the counter, it looked like he had been picking at it, while he worked. I put some bread in the toaster, and opened the fridge, it was full of groceries, and containers.

Over the next hours, Nick continued to cook, package, and freeze all kinds of dishes, in threes and fours, "I always thought you cooked food in bulk, all the same thing, on your days off," I said, seeing him cooking three different dishes at a time.

At two, Nick pulled a glass bowl from the cupboard, up to that point, he had only used two frying pans, baking pans, pots, knives, and a cutting board. Nick mixed ingredients, I watched him, and it wasn't until he put parchment paper in the bottom of two cake pans, then he greased them. He looked at me and smiled, "Lindsey's birthday tomorrow, Cath planned a surprise party, which reminds me, could you wrap the presents in the front room, I'm supposed to go at eight to set up, Cath's house, she's taking Linds out for breakfast, at eight thirty the kids are showing up, and Cath said they should be back around nine, she's hoping to make a day of it, she's invited two of the girls who Linds says are her best friends to spend the night, given the Nanny some time off, she's got tickets for the four of them to go to a movie Lindsey's been talking about, so yeah, do you want to help me out?"

"Sure, it will be fun," I smiled.

At work, I noticed Nick and Catherine were talking a lot more than usual.

Nick's POV

No new cases came in, so I spent most of the night in Cath's office, we were both doing paperwork, and talking. "What do you think, do you think she'll like it?"

"I do, I always wanted a surprise party as a kid," I said.

"How's the cake coming?"

"Good, I'll decorate it in the morning, I was thinking a dome shape, in pink, with flowers," I replied.

"Pink, how about blue, with pink flowers, she likes pink and all, but," Catherine kinda trailed off.

"Alright, you're the mother, you know best," I smiled.

"So how's the plan going?" Cath asked.

"Well, I think Warrick's planning on staying, and he was planning before his family got killed, I overheard him, though I was in a bit of a haze of panic at the time, so I think it's going good, if all this crap would quit getting in the way, I'd know better." I said.

"I'm sorry, Nick, Archie was going to go to a conference next week, but he's just got word, his grandmother is sick, he's flying out to stay with her, and now I need to send someone else to attend, and speak, Warrick is the next best candidate, I know you wanted some time to see what would happen between you, but..."

"I understand, one day I'll get it right, if he sticks around my place long enough, maybe I'll even work up the nerve to ask him one day,"

"But you were hoping for a gradual thing, not a sudden decision, I know that, how's this, when Warrick gets back, I'll 'accidentally schedule you another weekend off together, you may be able to convince him to do something."

"I've convinced him to let me take him flying, I was thinking maybe, something might happen then," I told Catherine.

"Warrick, you know he's iffy with heights."

"But he agreed, which is enough for me, we'll deal with the heights later, besides, my family has some things, that if Warrick and I get together, When, sorry, think positive, I'll have to help him with the heights anyway."

Catherine looked over my shoulder, and I turned to look where she was, WArrick and Charlie were standing outside the closed door, peeking in the widows. I rolled back, on the chair and caught the door knob, opening the door. "I thought you were better CSI's than that, peeking in windows, to spy on your boss, and colleague," Catherine said.

"But you were talking about us," Warrick said.

"We were discussing something, while we did paperwork, what it was has no bearing on you two." Catherine said.

Warrick gave us both looks, and said, "Well, we just came to give cath an update,"

"So?"

"Brass is bringing in our suspect, we're just waiting for our interview," Charlie said.

"Alright, good job guys," Catherine said.

Warrick and Charlie turned to leave, "Charlie, I'll meet up with you in a minute, I just want to talk to Nick about something," Warrick said.

Charlie nodded, and Warrick turned back, "I'll just go get some coffee," Catherine said, and got up from her chair.

Once Catherine was out of the room, Warrick shut the door, and sat in one of the chairs beside the desk. "Nicky, I was wondering if you would mind me sticking around your place from now on, my house was lonely before, but, now, with all that's happened, I think it would be even more lonely, I'd pay you rent, of course, at least until I can find a place, that's not to big."

"You're welcome for as long as you want, Warrick, by the way, rent's three hundred," I smiled, as he got up.

Cath came back, and Warrick left the room, at the end of shift, There was a knock on the door to the office, Grissom came in, "uh, Cath, have you told Warrick that he's going to the conference yet?"

"No, I've barely seen him tonight, why?"

"They filled in the A/V speaker spot, but they want someone to speak on ..." Grissom kept talking for awhile, and I blocked him out until my name popped up, "Right Nick?"

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were talking to Catherine," I said, looking at Grissom.

"Never stopped you listening before, the conference wants someone to speak about interviewing rape victims, and they want them from our lab, I was thinking of either Sara or you, because you both have a knack for calming victims down, Warrick will still be going, but he won't have to speak, ... what do you think?"

"I think Sara should go, or swing shift will be short two people," I told him.

"Nick?" Catherine asked.

"It's better that I stay here, I've got more than just me to think about now, Sara can do just as good a job at the conference, but Tara can't do anywhere near as good a job as me, in my own home," I said.

"You don't even trust her?" Cath asked.

"I trust her, but, I always feel that family should take care of each other, I pay her for while I'm at work, the only problem is, I'm working odd hours, if we were working days, then I wouldn't have needed to hire Tara."

"You would have put Nilde into daycare?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, I don't leave her with Tara anymore than necessary, it just seems wrong, I'm the parent, why should someone else raise her?"

"You can still leave, go to the conference, if you want," Grissom said, "Catherine does,"

"When she has to, but Sara is available, it's better, having me gone right now, would mess up Nilde's routine," I said.

Warrick came into the room again, "Nick, you ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

"If you two are done dissecting my personal life, would you mind if I went and worked on taking care of my family?" I asked.

"Go, take care of your daughter," Catherine said.

Warrick and I left the lab, "So you know you're scheduled to go to a conference next week?" I asked, as we got into the Tahoe.

"Really?" Warrick asked.

"The registration was originally Archie's but something happened, actually, he was scheduled to speak, they found a replacement, but you're still going, or so Cath says, you and probably Sara, don't know why she couldn't just go, since originally they were just sending one person anyway," I said.

"Is that what you guys were talking about?" Warrick asked.

"Somewhat, though there were some other things we were talking about as well," I told him.

"Will you tell me?" Warrick asked.

"Maybe another time," I said, looking out the window, as Warrick drove.

"Nick, is there something you should tell me?" Warrick asked after a bit.

"It's not a good time, Warrick, maybe later," I said, without looking at him.

My conversation with Cath kept running through my head, she had been encouraging me to tell Warrick for months, but I was scared to tell him, then he had practically moved into my house, and the fear came back, now it was at the forefront once more. It seemed almost natural, to wait for Warrick to head up to bed, before making sure the house was locked up I went to my room, got undressed, and climbed into bed. I hadn't even closed my eyes, when the soft footsteps padded down the hall, and my door opened a crack, "Nick?"

"Yes Warrick?"

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"I'm not talking about it, but sure, come on in," I said, and rolled over.

Warrick shut the door, I listened to him cross the room, and felt the bed shift under his weight as he crawled in. Warrick reminded me of myself, when I was a kid, and I'd have a nightmare, I'd crawl in with one of my sisters, or my brother, if he wasn't to grumpy. I woke up in the morning, and Warrick had curled around me, I slipped out of bed, and went downstairs, Tara was up, sitting on the couch, Nilde was in the swing, sucking on a toy. "Good morning," I said with a smile.

"Did you sleep good?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, what time is it?" I asked.

"Seven thirty, she's only been up half an hour," Tara replied.

I immediately got to work decorating the cake, I only had half an hour, I mixed up the icing, and a filling, then got started on the actual cake, I had it planned in my head, and ran up the stairs to wake Warrick up, when I finished the Cake, I was running even later, I put the cake in the box, while Warrick wrapped the presents, the oven dinged, and I pulled out the pan of breakfast sausages, stuffing them into a container, Warrick and I were nearly ready to go, we just had to get Nilde ready, while Warrick was putting stuff in the car, I went to get Nilde's things, "I already did that," Tara said, "I knew you were running late," she said.

I smiled, "Thank you."

I brought Nilde and her bag out to the truck, the Warrick was putting the play pen into the back of the truck. "That was fast," He said.

"Tara had her ready to go," I replied, buckling my daughter into the car.

We got to Cath's at five minutes after eight, and I unlocked the door, Warrick brought all the things in from the car, while I went to the neighbour's house, and rang the doorbell. "Yes?" she was an older lady.

"My Name is Nick Stokes, I'm a friend of Catherine Willow's I'm supposed to pick up the decorations from you, for her daughter's surprise birthday party."

"Right, right, come in, I had my grandson bring it into the kitchen before it rained last night," she said, there were several bags of decorations, on the kitchen table, "Tell Lindsey that I say happy birthday, and that I'm sorry I couldn't come, I've got my youngest grandson's first birthday party today," she had a big smile on her face.

I thanked her, as I left, and went back to Catherine's house, Warrick had the playpen set up in one corner, and Nilde was playing under the Einstein in it. By eight thirty we had all the decorations up, and the first of Lindsey's friends began to arrive. The first parent looked at me, and said, "So are you Lindsey's father?"

"No, I'm just a friend of Catherine's Lindsey's dad died a few years back, in a car accident," I told her.

"Oh, I didn't know," she said.

"It's not something Catherine or Lindsey talk about," I said, Warrick had already taken the friend into the living room, I could hear him getting her to help with the last of the balloons. Warrick purposely let one go, and she laughed.

"Well, I have to go, party ends at three, right?"

"Yeah," I replied. I was kept busy answering the door, while Warrick entertained the girls with games or something. In the end there were ten girls, when Catherine called, Nilde was in one of the bedrooms, sleeping again. "We've got nine party guests," I told her.

"Good, we're on our way home," Catherine said.

I moved the Truck down the street, before going back into the house, and locking the door, "They're on their way, Catherine just called."

Lindsey seemed to enjoy the party, and begged Warrick and I not to leave, "We have to go, Linds, someone has to work at the lab,"


	15. Chapter 15:Confirmation

Chapter 15: Confirmation

At the lab, Nick as acting supervisor was given the assignment slips, two of them, "Warrick, robbery, home invasion, you know the drill," I handed him the slip as I made up my mind, "Charlie, we are on a 419 at a motel well off the strip, if you get the point."

"Uh, Nick, there's someone out front to see you, a guy," One of the lab techs from days said.

"Thanks," I said, "Warrick, get going, Charlie, I'll meet you at the truck."

I walked out to the reception area, and was immediately swept into a hug, "Nicky," He smiled.

"Roitar, what are you doing here, you aren't supposed to be here till next week," I said, hugging him back.

"I just couldn't wait, I had to meet him," Roitar said.

"I'm not even sure he swings that way," I confessed to Roitar.

"You're crushing on him, and you don't even know?"

"Well, I'm not exactly the type to ask," I told him.

"Then I will," Roitar told me, "tonight, we'll switch places when you get off shift,"

"It's a childish game," I said.

"It's not a game," Roitar paused after a moment he added, "consider it a fact finding mission,"

"Fact finding?"

"You can rediscover what it feels like to live in the shoes of a doctor, and I'll rediscover the life of a CSI, one night only, no work, just life," Roitar suggested

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Meet you in the mens room at midnight," Roitar asked.

"That sounds bad, but if we're going to do this, no can know we're switching," I told him.

"I know, I know, how can we explain me then?"

"You've come to observe Doc Robbins in the early half of his shift, he's one of the best ME's around, and you're considering switching specialties."

"I am, to OB-GYN, not dead people," Roitar said.

"Just play along, I'll call doc while I'm at the scene, and call you with info, until then, disappear," I told my brother.

"Got it," Roitar turned and left the building.

"So who was your visitor?" Charlie asked.

"A friend of mine, he's doing a favour for me tonight, and needed some more information."

"Right," Charlie replied.

Twenty minutes later, I was surprised to see Doc Robbins arrive at the scene, "David is sick, I'm running all my own scenes tonight," he told me.

"Right, remember that friend who was supposed to come next week?" I asked.

"Yeah, the doctor," doc Robbins said.

"He showed up tonight, if you need his help, he's licenced," I told him.

"Give him a call, he can start with this case," Doc Robbins said.

I pulled out my phone, and hit Roitar's number. "Bro, meet the doc at the morgue in, How long doc?" I asked.

"Half an hour," Doc Robbins told me.

"Half an hour, bro," I relayed.

"So, he'll have ID, of some sort?"

"Yeah, he's got all the ID he needs," I told Doc Robbins.

"So what's his name?" Charlie asked.

"Roitar," I said.

"Roitar, sounds strange," Charlie said.

"It's what most people call him, his other name, is Hunter," I said.

"And what's your other name?" Charlie asked suddenly.

"Turelio," I said, softly, turning to the scene, "But it's time to work now, not socialize."

We worked the scene, and then headed back to the lab, we spent hours going over the evidence at midnight, I said, "We'll be able to see this better with fresh minds tomorrow, go home, get some sleep."

"You're meeting someone," Charlie said.

"We'll see the case better tomorrow, I'll see you at beginning of shift tomorrow," I told Charlie, we packed up the evidence, and brought it to lockup. "Night Charlie," I said, and walked towards the bathroom, just before I got there, I ran into the Warrick, "Hey Nick," he said.

"Hey Warrick, how's the case going?" I asked.

"Ok, it's standard really, nothing major really turned up, I should be home by 1:30 at the latest," Warrick told me.

"Alright," I said, and he walked off, I turned to him, "Don't forget, to set the security system."

I walked into the bathroom, Roitar was sitting on the counter, cross legged, facing the mirror, he was talking to himself. "Don't do that in front of Warrick," I said, as way of announcing my presence.

"Hey Hunter, just practising my accent, where did you pick up that stupid Texas thing anyway?"

"You try working with Bobby Dawson, and not pick up on the accent," I said.

"So I'm Nick now?" He asked.

"For sixteen hours, we'll meet at your hotel at 3:00 tomorrow, Nick," I told him, we went into the stalls, and switched clothes, while I gave Roitar information on routines and schedules, just as we were about to leave, I looked at him, and said, "I forgot, Warrick has been slipping into your bed for the last few nights."

Warrick's POV (Earlier that night)

I brought the trace evidence from my scene into the lab, when I put it in the in box, I was about to leave, when Tim said, "Warrick, will you stick around, there is something I want to tell you."

"Alright," I said, I pulled up the only chair in the entire lab, and sat down.

"I've known Nick since we were kids, and I noticed you two are close, so I want to pass on a warning," Tim said.

"I want to make my own choices about Nick," I told him.

"Then just listen to this, ok, Nick has a twin, and they can pass for each other, easy, even now, I saw him earlier tonight, that's why I'm telling you, at first, I thought it was Nick, but then, I heard him talking to doc Robbins, I think they're planning a test," Tim said.

"A test?" I asked.

"When they were kids, no one could tell them apart, when we were ten, Nick told me, that they had made a pact, they would never get to serious with someone if they couldn't tell them apart," Tim told me.

"So you think they're switching places?" I asked.

"I know they are, they'd switch on a regular basis, when they were younger, they switched on me once, I won't tell you which one I dated, I'll leave that for you, but I had convinced them I knew which one was which, they had no limits, when they switched, they became each other, I knew that, I couldn't tell them apart, when they switched, I'm not sure if they were testing me that night, or a new girlfriend, but I ended up sleeping with the wrong one, even at fifteen, they shared a room, so I knew the differences in their sleep, that was it, Nick is a calm sleeper, sleeps like a log, especially when someone is curled up next to him, Hunter, is a very restless sleeper, less so when someone is next to him, but still restless, that's the only time I would be able to tell them apart, is when they were sleeping."

"And now, how would you suggest I tell them apart?" I asked.

"Nick's got a family now, right, a daughter who lives with him?" I nodded, "well, she'll be able to tell the difference, or should, anyway."

"She's six month's old," I told him.

"But Nick's got her, so she's perceptive, she'll react differently to Hunter than she does to Nick," Tim told me.

"You're suggesting I use my god daughter to tell the difference between them," I said.

"They don't hesitate to use other people to put together their tests," Tim said.

"I'll figure it out, thanks for the warning," I told him, I pushed the chair under the desk and walked out of the lab.

At the end of shift, I ran into Nick, in the hall, "Hey Nick," I said.

"Hey Warrick, how's the case going?" He asked.

"Ok, it's standard, really, nothing major really turned up, I should be home by 1:30 at the latest," I was trying to see if they had already switched, also giving me a point to test the man I was planning on climbing into bed with that night. My conversation with Tim gave me an idea, I knew one of them didn't only like women, but men as well, I just hoped Nick wasn't as straight as I had feared.

"Alright," Nick said, he began to walk off, but turned to me and added, "Don't forget to set the security system."

I went into the locker room, and saw Charlie at his locker, "Hey," I said.

"Hey, Warrick, did you notice anything weird about Nick tonight?" He asked right off.

"Not really, but then I hardly saw him, what's up?" I asked.

"His twin was here, earlier, and Nick seemed to be acting strange, Nervous even. I know his brother was helping doc Robbins in the morgue, you didn't see him?"

"I didn't have a DB, there was no reason to go down there," I said.

"Oh, well, this guy, identical to Nick, they act different, though, Nick is fairly reserved, but when I was down in the morgue, waiting for doc to finish the autopsy, Hunter kept asking me about you, stuff you did, and liked, of course Doc was able to tell him a little more, as he knows you better, it's strange, he's a doctor, and all, but he also mentioned a man he knew that carried a baby to term, he's really strange, if you ask me."

"Nick can be that way too, but thanks for the heads up, I've heard rumours about them switching places, and it always helps to know something is there to substantiate the claim." I told him.

"Especially in our business," Charlie replied.

"Yeah, especially in our business."

I changed, and left the locker room, I turned towards the parking lot, then looked down the hall, to see Grissom was sitting in his office, hunched over some paperwork, I turned that way instead, and went into Grissom's office. "Griss, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked.

"What would you like?" Grissom asked, putting his pen down.

"This is a rather personal matter, can I shut the door?" I asked.

"Of course," Grissom said, "But wouldn't you rather talk to Catherine, she's better with the personal matters."

"It can't wait until tomorrow, or I probably would, to be honest, and I'd talk to Nick, but he's kind of sort of involved."

"Well, talk away," Grissom said.

"Alright, since Nick left for Washington, I've been staying in his office, shortly after he came back to work, two months ago, someone tried to kidnap his daughter, Nilde, that night, he didn't want to let either of us out of his reach, so I slept in his bed, now every night since, I've gone into his room, after the house has been locked up, and he's let me sleep in there, most mornings, by the time I wake up, Nick's either up, or getting up, but he doesn't seem to mind, me staying in his bed, he's actually prone to cuddling up with me," I paused to take a breath.

"Most people are prone to cuddling with someone sharing their bed," Grissom said.

"Well, I have no problem there, I quite like it, but I've been told, by two separate sources, one very reliable, one I'm still not entirely sure about, that Nick's twin brother is in town," I said.

"He is, I ran into him on my way in, he's a doctor, I believe, I mistook him for Nick, at first, then realised that he wasn't wearing the same style of clothes as Nick."

"Right, well, my less reliable source told me that when they were younger, they liked to trade places, to test people, and that when they do trade, they have no limits, as to how far they will go," I said.

"Well, then the best way to avoid confusion, is to confront Nick, and ask,"

"But if they have switched, or are planning a switch, then Nick won't tell the truth," I said.

"Then call him by his brother's Name, if it's Nick, he won't respond, but Hunter will automatically respond to his name, it's an old police trick, to ascertain the true identity of a suspect."

"Thanks, Griss," I told him, "But what if this guy is wrong, and Nick wasn't planning on switching places, if he wasn't, and he finds out I believed this guy over his integrity, he'll be mad, maybe that was this guy's point, he doesn't like Nick, though I'm not sure why,"

"Does he like you?" Grissom asked.

"He seems to, why?"

"He'd be hurting you as much as Nick by lying to you about this, right?"

"I guess, but what if his desire to get revenge against Nick is greater than his desire to be nice to me?" I asked.

"Keep your eye out for anything different about Nick, it might be something as simple as a habit he has, or, doesn't have," Grissom said.

"Right, thank you, Grissom," I smiled, "See you."

"See you Warrick."

I left the office, and walked out to the parking lot, I saw Charlie getting into his car, and waved, before getting into my own. Nick's house was dark, when I got there, I let myself in, and re-set the alarm. I then went into my room, and changed for bed. I lay in my bed for ten minutes, half an hour, an hour, and I couldn't sleep. I got up, and walked down the hall, stopping to check on Nilde, before moving on to Nick's room, I opened the door, and saw how the person in the bed was very restless, I knew immediately it wasn't Nick, I would have been able to tell, even if Tim hadn't told me, Nick was a very calm sleeper, I walked up to the bed, and crawled in, I immediately grabbed hold of Hunter, and said "I know you're not Nick, but I can't sleep alone anymore."

"How did you know?" Hunter asked, half asleep.

"I knew you were in town, and I talked to a couple people, including Tim Speedle, and I was given a few hints as to how to tell," I told him.

"Oh, so how did you know we actually switched places?"

"Nick reminded me to lock up, he never does that, so I immediately suspected something, then I came in here, and I saw you, you were not sleeping very calmly, so I knew for a fact, you weren't Nick, also, you're just different, I thought with you being identical twins, you'd look the same in every aspect, but, you don't," I said.

"You know I'm not Nick, so my question isn't really valid as I was going to ask it, but, Do you like him, and I don't mean as a friend."

"I do, but, don't tell him, I'm afraid it may bother him," I said

"Why, he's the gay one, I'm just Bi," Hunter said, "And he likes you, a lot."


	16. Chapter 16: Connection

Chapter 16: Connection

I had to go to the conference with Sara that weekend, but I got back Monday, at three in the morning, I dropped my bags in my room, and went into Nick's room, he was sleeping peacefully in the bed, I stripped down to my boxers, leaving my clothes on the chair on my side of the bed, and I crawled in next to Nick.

"How was your trip?" Nick asked.

"Good, I learned lots, but I missed you," I said, then, for the first time since I met Nick, I got up the courage to lean in, and we kissed, I can't say that I kissed him, or that he kissed me, because we made the move at the exact same time.

The next week passed at just the speed of normal, me both dreading and looking forward to the next weekend, Catherine had managed to get us both the time off, as a repayment for us missing the weekend together because of the conference. I had two goals for the weekend, go flying with Nick, and hopefully have fun, and find a way to seduce Nick without scaring him off. At six the Friday morning, Nick woke me up, we had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights off, he made sure I had a backpack large enough to hold two things, supplies for me, for the walk back, and a second bag for him to carry on the way back, full of his things. We left my cell at the house, and Nick put his on a setting that would only let Catherine or Tara call it, and get through. At the top of the mountain where we were leaving from, Nick set up the equipment, checking it again, while I was given an hour long private lesson from one of the instructors there. Once we were both strapped in, the instructor waved, and we took off, Nick was right, the feel of flying was exhilarating, and when we landed two hours later, far into the desert, I had a real hard on, so did Nick, "I can take care of that for you," he offered slyly, I had officially moved into his room that week, but we had yet to do anything more than kiss.

"How about we let all our firsts be about love, Not lust," I told him, he agreed, packing away the equipment, where we had landed, it would be a long way back, looking at the GPS, I saw we had gone several miles further than we had planned. The desert was still heating up for the day, but I knew we would be stopping a fair amount for breaks. We both had large camel packs full of water, that would hopefully last us until we got back to civilisation. The walk back took most of the day, but Nick had told me that most often the walk back was just as rewarding as the flight, both allowing time to think, the walk didn't have all the same sights as the air and it was an enjoyable walk. When we arrived back at the launch point, the classes that would be going on all weekend were just letting out. "Nick, will we be seeing you again tomorrow?" the main instructor asked.

"No, tomorrow we're taking Nilde to the Zoo," Nick said.

"Well, have fun," we were told.

We drove back to town, and we stopped at the grocery store to pick up something Nick said he needed for supper, he asked me to wait in the truck, and brought in a cloth bag, I knew he used one, but I still wondered what he was getting. I waited for him to come back, when he did, he put the bag, and something else in the back, he wouldn't let me see, "So what did you get?" I asked.

Nick made a romantic supper for us, Tara leaving us alone, when we were finished eating, I put out the candles, while Nick locked up, I was upstairs waiting for Nick, when he came up, the bed covers were folded out of the way enough but also in such a way that when they were needed, they could be reached and brought up with little fuss. Well, I wasn't quite done folding the blankets away, when Nick came in, he came up behind me, and wrapped his arms around my waist, I could feel he was aroused, and pushed my butt into him. Nick turned me to face him, and kissed me, we were soon on the bed stripping each other, my hands quickly drifted down to Nick, as soon as his pants were off, I trailed kisses down his body, and pulled his boxers off, I began to suck him gently, while I had never done it before, I knew what felt good, and was as gentle as I could be, Nick started to tense up, and I pulled off, to slide back up his body, Nick soon finished stripping me, while he was sucking on me, I felt a finger begin to tease my hole, "Nick, I want you in me," I moaned, pushing my butt into his hand, he removed his hand and pulled off my cock. I sat up halfway to see Nick pulling some lube out from a drawer under his bed. The night was full of bliss, we each made love to each other, and I slept holding Nick in my arms. The next day, we spent the morning at the Zoo with Cath and Lindsey, after lunch we went to an amusement park, Lindsey liked the big roller coasters, so I spent most of the time sitting on a bench with Nilde, or being dragged by Lindsey from one ride to the next. Nick finally convinced Lindsey that she wasn't to old to go on the Merry go round, something that he could take Nilde on, Nick passed the ride attendant the tickets, and they got on, Lindsey sat on a horse, holding Nilde in front of her, Nick leaned against the next horse, every time they would pass us, Nick would be smiling at me, Nilde was to, she seemed to enjoy the ride. Of course I discovered later what the trade off was for what turned into three rides on the merry go round, Nick and I had to go up on a version of the tower of terror, Catherine stood at the bottom holding Nilde, as I was dragged up to the ride entrance, Nick made sure I was strapped in before he was, and took my hand as we went up the tower. "You know how little height agrees with me, Nick, why did you agree to this?" I asked him quietly.

"Because it will help get rid of your fear of heights," Nick smiled.

Just as we reached the top, Nick kissed me, he pulled away, and the ride dropped, we were pulled up, and dropped several more times, when I stepped off the ride, I glared at Nick, took Nilde from Catherine, and walked away.

"I take it he didn't like it?" I heard Catherine ask, as they followed me.

"Warrick hated it, but I got him up there, which I'm surprised enough at, if he liked it, I would have had to have a heart attack," Nick joked.

I kept walking, I was seriously mad at Nick, I had thought his insistence that I get over my fear of heights was strictly to do with flying with him, but I had gone flying, and loved it, but that didn't seem to be enough. I practically ignored Nick for the rest of the afternoon, Catherine headed straight to the lab from the park, we were supposed to take Lindsey home, for three thirty, when her babysitter would be getting there. In the car on the way to Cath's place, the car was silent, as soon as we pulled away, I asked, "What is with you, and making sure I get over my disagreement with heights," Even to Nick I didn't like to say out loud that it was a fear.

"A disagreement, you call it everything but what it is Warrick, you have a fear of heights, why?" Nick asked straight out.

"Next time you want to know something, Nick, don't try to trick it out of me, I can't stand heights, period. What is your obsession with being high up? Being away from the ground as much as possible?"

"I can make things, even other people defy gravity, they'll float, as long as I can hold them, but I can't, not unless something is helping me, my family has a few strange rituals, since we're almost all strong, very few strong males, but the women are strong, we have to use whatever talent we have, to prove our partner's trust in us, and if our partner has an ability, we have to prove our trust in them, I trust you, and you've told me you trust me, but the talent that they'll want me to use to show your trust in me, will be levitation, made even more appealing to my father by the fact you're scared of heights, he'll have me hold you off the side of a building or something, nothing I can't do, but he'll still want me to do it, the more scared you are, and he'll know, the higher he'll want me to hold you, with Tim, we were thirteen, when my father wanted to test our trust, I had to trust him with my most emotional moment, he's an empath, one that he didn't experience with me, my dad didn't even know about it, and he's one too, In the memory I had found, I was nine, Tim knew about it, it was right before we got together, but I'd only shared the bare facts with him, knowing that the second I brought up this memory, he'd know everything I felt in that moment, scared me, when he entered my mind, it was the first time he'd invaded my mind in any way, he whispered, 'don't be afraid, I won't hurt you,' that's not what I was afraid of, it wasn't hurt, it was hate. I was and still am afraid of Hate. I'm most afraid that you'll hate me forever if my father has me levitate you, because, I know you don't like being more that four feet off the ground without steady support under your feet."

"Is that why you've been doing all this?" I asked, not needing to specify.

"I thought, if you didn't hate me for dragging you up into high towers, flying, all that, you'd either not be afraid anymore, or you at least wouldn't hate me."

"Well, I don't hate you, I don't think I could, I'm in love with you, but no matter how hard you try, Nick, my fear is to deep rooted for you to dig it out with a few well meaning rides, and flying lessons."

"Will you tell me some day?" Nick asked.

"Some day, but not today, I've not got a lot of energy to relive the experience."

For some reason right after supper, Tara took Nilde, and went upstairs, Nick started to make dinner, it was five thirty, I was watching TV, when Nick called me to the table, I stood up, remote in hand, I was just watching the end of a news piece, when Nick wrapped his arms around me, I pushed back against him, making full body contact. Nick didn't bother cleaning up the kitchen beyond putting the food away, we soon went up the stairs, another early night? You're thinking, well, Nick was extremely horny, as was I, our night together had released something in us that I don't think either of us expected. We made love several times, in fact, I received Nick eagerly four times that night. The next day, we were nearly inseparable, and I made love to Nick twice, he made love to me four more times, (yes I'm making them increadibly horny, but you'll see why soon enough). Nick's natural talent for getting me going, and mine for wanting him to get going was what kept us going at it all day. Monday afternoon, we left the house for work, I wanted Nick more than ever, as the end of the night came closer, at the scene, I could hardly get him off my mind, "Something wrong Warrick?" Catherine asked.

"Sorry, just thinking," I said, going back to my work.

"About what?" Catherine asked.

"Not work," I answered.

"Not work would be Nick, are you still mad at him about the ride on Saturday?"

"No, I didn't like it, but, it's no big deal, it was just a ride, Nick apologised for pushing the issue, and explained why.

I was working in the lab later that night and Nick came in, Catherine knew about us, there was no way she couldn't as we hadn't been hiding it around her, we weren't overt about it but we didn't hide it either. For some reason Nick broke our unspoken rule, and wrapped his arms around me, "What is it?" I asked.

"I want to see if I can get you pregnant, when we get home," Nick said.

"Where did that idea come from?" I asked.

"I was at the station, just finished interviewing a suspect, a guy was brought in, he looked at me, and said, 'A Phoenix, a phoenix with a mate, mating phoenixes, the others must know.' it made me think,"

"And now you want another baby?"

"Now's the perfect time, Nilde is six months old, nine months from now, she'll be over a year, perfect timing."

"To bad I'm a guy, huh?" I mentioned.

"That doesn't matter, Warrick, do you get extra horny right before you normally get sick?" I asked.

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

"Catherine and I were talking, not to long back, remember that friend of mine, with the same occurrence as you?" he asked trying to keep the topic of our conversation slightly private as a tech came into the room.

"Yeah, what about him?" I asked.

"His father's family has carried that problem the same way, he's traced his family back, it's genetic, and he's traced his family back to a generation where both parents were well..." Nick trailed off, realizing the tech was listening in.

"So now you think I can?"

"It's your family history too, he showed me a family tree, the first daughter married David Warrick Brown, your great-great-grandfather."


	17. Chapter 17: Complications

Chapter 17: Complications

Over the days before my usual sickness three months later, I started to feel nauseous, it was two days before the nausea turned to vomiting, I was able to keep a weak broth down, but after another day, I couldn't keep anything down, besides the small amount of moisture an ice cube could provide, and only if it melted slowly. After less than twenty-four hours in that condition, Nick packed me into his truck, his brother had just started a practice in town, I thought he was bringing me there, but we arrived not long later at the emergency room, we had to wait in the triage area for awhile, it was enough time for Hunter to arrive from his office, I was brought back to an examination area, a doctor came up to me, "What seems to be the problem?"

"I got sick about a week ago, nausea, turned to vomiting, now I can't keep anything down, and my partner got worried," I said.

"Right, we'll take some blood, how long since you last kept any water down?" he asked.

"For twenty-four hours, I've been sucking on ice chips, anything more, and I throw it all up."

A nurse approached me, and it took her three tries to get the IV in, I watched the solution they hung on the IV pole drip down. Nick and Hunter were let into the curtain area, and I looked at Nick, then Hunter, they were wearing different clothes, which was probably a good thing, as in my state, I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart alone. Nick sat on the side of the bed, and took my hand while we waited. The cramps started up after another ten minutes, Nick moved behind me, as he had done three months before, he rubbed my stomach until they were nearly gone. The doctor came back and asked, "What's going on?"

"Just some cramps, those I'm used to," I said.

"Cramps, vomiting, nausea..." the doctor said.

Hunter looked at the doctor, "Warrick does not have what those other men have, the cramps are merely an affliction he deals with on a regular basis, and he's dehydrated, making them worse, there is no virus attacking his system, no bacteria."

"So you know what's making him sick?" the doctor asked.

"I have my suspicions, I am a doctor after all,"

"A Gynaecologist," the ER doctor said.

"And as such, I see many more specific afflictions than you,"

"I still wish to put him in isolation, to be sure if you are wrong, that he won't transmit this to others."

"Then not with the others, I will not but his life at risk, for your fear," Hunter said.

"I have Called NIH, they are on their way."

I was placed in an isolation room alone, Nick put on a mask and gown to sit with me, he refused the gloves, Nick sat behind me on the bed, in the glass room, rubbing away the pain in my muscles.

I had just closed my eyes when my cell rang, I reached out, and pressed the on button, "Connor,"

"Dr. Connor, I've got a new case for you,"

"We just got off a tough one," I said, "My team deserves a break."

"You won't need your whole team for this one, just a doctor and the one who does all your lab work."

"Where is it?" I asked.

"Vegas, three victims so far, no fatalities,"

"Alright," I sighed, and rolled out of bed.

In Vegas, I met the Doctor who had called NIH, "Give me an update," I said.

"Three young men came in within an hour of each other, all with the same symptoms, none of the standard tests revealed anything, and I called you guys, an hour later, another young man came in, he was dehydrated, apparently he's been sick for three days, I've got them all in isolation, now."

"Dr. Connor, I'm glad NIH sent you, you can clear this up so Warrick can go home, my brother refuses to leave him, but they have a little girl to take care of," I turned to see a man I had worked with previously, he was a good doctor, with a good eye for the true problem behind the sickness.

"Dr. Stokes, I've missed your help on my cases lately," I smiled, "So, what's the situation?"

"I came in at my brother's request, he's not much for hospitals, so he doesn't like to stay alone, his lover is dehydrated, and possibly losing the one thing they want most of all, I don't want that to happen in public, so either Warrick gets moved to a private room, no glass walls, or I take him home."

"You can't take him home, he could be contagious," the ER doctor said.

"We'll run the tests, and see what's up," I said.

"Dr. Connor, I can tell what's wrong with a patient long before the tests come back, you've known that for years, my brother is the same way, once he realises what happened," Hunter Stokes whispered to me, trailing off.

"I know, but there is no way that I can authorize it, it's not possible, just in case he is contagious."

"He's not, Connor, I know it, but, listen, you know me, you trust me, but my brother, if you do anything to harm his lover, or if he thinks you did anything to harm Warrick, it will not be pretty,"

"And what would he consider me harming Warrick?"

"I can't talk about it out here, I'll help you on this case, I notice you didn't bring your whole team, if you'll help me deal with Nick and Warrick.

"You want my help with your brother?"

"Nick trusts me, and I can't handle it alone, no matter how much he won't like involving someone else, he'll get over it, and I'll keep any of his anger off of you,"

I worked side by side with Hunter for two hours, just like before, "So how's the new guy working out?" he asked.

"He's good, but not as good as you were, what are you doing now?" I asked.

"OB/Gyn with the occasional male patient such as Warrick on the side,"

"So what do you think?" I asked him in reference to the patients we had been working with.

"Nothing you needed to be called in for, a severe case of the flu, not one of them got their shots," Hunter shook his head.

"Yeah, my thought too, let her run the tests, and we'll check on Warrick," I said to Hunter.

We walked into the room, I recognised Nick sitting behind a black man on the bed, it was hard not to, standing next to Hunter, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart, "Hunter, he's in more pain now, I thought you had a suspicion of what was making him sick?" Nick said.

"I do, Nick, Warrick, this is Dr. Connor, I used to work with him, Dr. Connor, my brother Nick, and his partner/lover/mate, Warrick."

"Or the other way around," Nick said.

"Hunter informs me that you do not have what it is the ER doctor thinks you have, and at first glance, Mr. Brown, I'm inclined to agree, but to be sure, I would like to order an ultrasound, and some blood work," I told them, after greeting them.

The ultrasound machine was wheeled in, and the tech sat on a stool next to the bed, "So Doctor, what are we looking for?" He looked at me.

"I'll tell you if I see it," I told him, and motioned for him to begin, while we looked at the screen I had it turned away from Nick and Warrick, if Hunter was right about his brother, then he would recognise what I was looking for. Hunter stood between me and the ultrasound tech, and when the tech scanned the wand over Warrick's lower stomach, Hunter grabbed it, and stopped, on the screen was the one thing I didn't think I would ever see on the screen of an ultrasound on a male.

"Is that what it looks like?" the tech had a look of disbelief in his eye.

"I hope so," Hunter said, "That is what I was hoping for."

I looked closely, as Hunter pointed, and saw movement, a small heartbeat, and moving body in the mass, looking closely, as Hunter took the wand from the still stunned lab tech I saw the sac was a womb of sorts, with several connections, one looked to go to the back wall of Warrick's abdomen, one looked to come forward to his bellybutton, and a third sat between the womb, and the bottom wall of the abdomen. Hunter's movements had purpose, he was experienced at what he did, and found what he was looking for quickly, a second baby came into view. "I'd say that was what made him sick," Hunter said.

"I'd agree," I said, loving the historical moment, that would probably never be known outside the few people that knew Nick and Warrick.

"What is it, and why are you two so happy?" Nick asked.

"We've just proved that Warrick doesn't have anything catching," Hunter said.

"And I've just seen a major scientific anomaly, that I've never seen before, and will probably never see again," I said.

"What is it?" Warrick asked.

Hunter turned the screen to face the pair, "I wanted to be sure, before I said anything to you guys, but, that is most definitely more than I expected."

"What?" Warrick asked.

"You mean, I was, I was right?" Nick looked at the screen, eyes wide, "but, what about..." he trailed off.

"Perfectly harmless, surprisingly, because, in a female, it's a sign of a problem, but looking at the reaction to each cramp," Hunter said, as another wave of cramps became obvious on Warrick's face, on the screen, however, the cramping wasn't really cramping, it was a stretching of the muscles, allowing more room for the babies to grow.

"Warrick, Nick, congratulations, you're going to have twins," Hunter said.

"Hunter, No jokes," Warrick said, another wave of pain crossing his face.

"None what so ever, I swear," Hunter said, holding up one hand.

"Nick did mention he thought it was possible, and if you listen to family lore, it's possible," Warrick said.

"Then you should listen to family lore," Hunter said.

"As soon as his results are back, and negative, I'll be able to release him," I said.

"Thank you, I think I'll give him an IV at home, if he still needs it later," Hunter said.

Three hours later, the stretching stopped, an hour after that, Warrick was feeling much better, and was even eating a thin broth, but the test results weren't back. "I went to find the ER doctor, and found him at the desk. "Dr. I was wondering where my patient's lab results are, I sent a basic panel down to your lab on all of them, and there is one I haven't gotten back."

"The one you're planning on releasing?"

"If Warrick Brown's test results come back clean, I don't see any reason to keep him here, taking up a bed, and getting in your way."

"The lab tech's found an anomaly, they're re-doing the tests, claiming it's impossible," He said.

I went directly down to the lab, and was allowed in, I went to one of the lab tech's and said, "Who ran Warrick Brown's tests?"

"I..I did," he said.

"Let me see the results," I said.

"I have him redoing the tests," He pointed to another tech, "Something impossible came up."

I walked over to the other tech, and stood over him, as he took something out of his printer, he looked at it, and pulled another sheet from his desk, I looked over his shoulder, and saw it was Warrick's "Thank you, that's what I came down for," I said.

"Sir, his hormone levels are impossible, the sample must have been contaminated, we'll have to take a new sample," the tech said.

"No, these levels are perfectly normal for this patient," I said, taking the sheet, and walking out of the lab. In Warrick's room, I showed the papers to Hunter, "My suggestion, do you own testing if you can, or use another lab to do any tests he may need, I'm handing these over to you, to be placed in his chart, at your office, we can sign the release papers now."

Nick's POV

Hunter followed us home, Tara was sitting in the living room with Nilde. When I helped Warrick into the house, I brought him to the couch, "What did the doctor say?"

"Go home, get some rest, use a private lab to run any and all tests Warrick needs," Hunter said.

"A private lab?" Warrick asked.

"The people in the hospital lab are morons, I already use a private lab, until I can get my own lab setup, then I'll be doing all my own testing."

"Makes sense, so can you tell us a little more about what's going on?" I asked.

"Well, from the ultrasound, Nick, you could tell, you're going to be a father, again," Hunter said.

"Twins," I nodded.

"What are you two talking about," Tara asked.

"In order to get Warrick released from the hospital, we had to prove what was making him sick wasn't contagious,"

"I know the NIH doctor that came to investigate a call by an emergency room doctor, he watched, and as soon as the blood work came back clean, and since he had seen the ultra sound, he had no reason to keep Warrick."

"I'm still wondering how this is possible," Tara said.

"It's a genetic mutation, my whole family is theoretically able to carry children."

"Theoretically?"

"I'm the first to actually get pregnant," Warrick said.

"Oh," Tara said, "This is creepy."

"It's unusual, but not really creepy," I said.

"What do you think?" Hunter asked me quietly while Warrick talked with Tara.

"About what?" I asked in the same voice.

"Warrick, Dad, Tara even if that's what's on your mind."

"I think that this whole thing is starting to scare Tara, last week, she caught Warrick and I having a fully telepathic conversation, and in the last while she's caught us in partially telepathic conversations on a regular basis." I started, "Warrick and Dad are rolled into one worry, as you probably suspected, with Warrick pregnant, which I've highly suspected since the third week, Dad's going to be pushing for us to make an official commitment, he'll want it to be a big thing to bring my clan back in to his, which the others in my clan won't like, as they are quite content to have the freedom of being away from that, even if it does mean more information being restricted from them."

"Well, Tara will probably chalk everything weird that happens in this house to her imagination, or Warrick's genetics, and as for Dad, he'll have to deal with whatever you want, you are more than financially independent, and a clan leader, he can't touch you, since I'm sure you have alliances that dad wouldn't have been able to get, being smaller, and well, from what I've heard the members of your clan are nearly impossible to kill."

"I've got a clan made up of elves, and Vampires, with me thrown into the mix, I'm not even sure how I became the leader, I'm not exactly immortal,"

"But you are the phoenix, which means you are more than able to keep up with those under you."

"I haven't even died yet, I'm not getting any younger, you know," I said.

"I think you may have, Nick,"

"I haven't, I still have the scars,"

"They are there as a testament to your ability, your history, question, Nick, have they been going away, since the man was caught, or since you either met or started dating Warrick?"

"A little of all of them, how did you know?"

"Just a hunch, Nick," Hunter said, I looked up from our conversation, and said, "Warrick are you hungry, or does your stomach still turn at the thought of anything entering it?"

"I'll try some soup, if we've got any," He said.

I nodded, and Hunter followed me into the kitchen. "What should I do about having a clan leader involved, I don't even want to tell Dad about Warrick, and Warrick isn't a member of a clan, so we can't even have his Clan leader run it."

"What about one of your allied clans?"

"The main one, is the Pack, the internal clan I get along best with is the Dog

Warriors, out of Pittsburgh, and then I can't have law enforcement, all but one member of that clan are wanted by the FBI,"

"Well, try, they may be willing,"

"Almost my entire group of friends are in law enforcement, same with Warrick, mostly, and I'm going to bring in an outlaw biker gang for a wedding?"

"It'd be funny, you could ask for a temporary truce, that would make it possible for the Pack to come to Vegas for the Wedding, and leave again, before law enforcement descends on them."

"Or have them just descend on the wedding," I smiled.

"Who's getting married?" Warrick asked, from the doorway.

"I've just brought up some logistical problems if you and Nick ever got married," Hunter said.

"How so?"

"Law enforcement, and clan rules dictate that a clan leader can't get married unless there is another clan leader present," I said.

"Nick's only Allied clan are outlaws," Hunter said.

"Allies?" Tara asked, "Clans?"

"They're like family groups," Warrick said, "Nick leads his own group, though I believe they are scattered all over the states,"

"If you lived as long as some of them will, you wouldn't want to live with the same people, in the same place for the entire time," Hunter said.

"Hunter!" I said in a warning voice.

"Sorry, anyway, Nick's got his clan, and if he gets married, or in his case committed to someone, he's got to have another clan leader there," Hunter said.

"I don't get along with my father, so that doesn't work and the clan I'm closest to as an ally, being I've helped them fight another clan that is determined to kill them, and their 'cubs' two are full grown, and one is just a baby, they want to kidnap him, and they want to take over the world, with my group, joining when they need help,"

"So it's like gangs,"

"But on a large scale, and for the most part, we all get along."

"Except for these two?"

"Long standing family feud, one wanted to take over the world, the other didn't, just petty stuff, really."


	18. Chapter 18: Proposals

Chapter 18: Proposals

Three weeks after Warrick found out he was going to have a baby, and after that fact had been confirmed for me, we went out to a nice restaurant, where I asked him to marry me. He said yes, it wasn't really a surprise, but, he said yes. We started talking about our different families' traditions, on the way home, within a week, we had a general outline for the week long wedding that was traditional in my family. We set the date for four months later, even at seven months, Warrick would still be able to have fun, but three months was to soon, and the eighth month was to late. We spent most days trying to get Invitations out, as soon as possible, so we could get them back. The first thing I did was write letters to Ukiah and Atticus, so that I could get in direct contact with the Dog Warriors. Warrick tried to get in contact with a friend or two that he wanted there, and we invited Grissom, Greg, Sara, Catherine, I even mentioned to Catherine that it might be a good idea to invite Ecklie to one of the milder days, since he'd be hearing about the wedding somewhere.

"Not the smartest Idea, but whatever you want, what does this week long thing consist of?"

"The first day is the actual ceremony, and a regular wedding style reception, now I'm going to suggest, if Lindsey is coming, you might want her to go home about midnight, because the tone changes considerably after that, the younger families tend to leave, because what happens about two or three is not appropriate for children, though I know some times where children were not restricted, I won't let anyone under 21 stay."

"What is it?" Catherine asked.

"It's a ritual, involving the new couple, Warrick and I moved it around, later into the night, but earlier in the week, so that his family wouldn't be there, and it's not so far ...yeah, we changed a few things from tradition, though there is one thing I need you to help me with."

"What's that?" Catherine asked.

"For part of the reception, we bring in the most important person in each of our closest friend's lives, but, that will be very difficult, as, we don't even know most of the things we need to know, it's pretty simple, for Grissom, we're going to bring his mom in, but Greg, Sara and you, we have no clue about, I know Greg was never really close to his mom, Sara's dad is dead and she lived in foster homes since then, and I have no clue who the most important person in your life is."

"Well, if you're going for parents, Sam Braun is my father, by blood,"

"But is he really that important," I asked.

"I guess not, but who else would you bring for me?"

"Was there a father figure you had while growing up, maybe?"

"Sam was around, a little bit, but my mom never really had anyone around that would really fit for this," Catherine said.

"Anyone that you wish you hadn't lost touch with?" I asked, really scraping, "it doesn't even have to be a guy, it's just preferable for most women."

Warrick's POV

I was five and a half months pregnant, and we went to see Hunter at his office, after hours, Hunter's receptionist was still there, doing some sort of Work, "Warrick, Nick, come on back, I've just got a bit more paperwork, and I'll be with you," Hunter said, poking his head out of the office when we walked in.

I followed Nick, and sat down on the examining table, "Marcella, you can leave now, and finish up in the morning," Hunter said, getting up, and walking out of the office. Once the receptionist was packing up, Hunter shut his office door, "Warrick, I see you're ready to get this over with," Hunter said.

"I'm five months, I haven't figured out how to tell my boss about it yet,"

"And you are showing a fair amount, how do you plan to keep hiding it?" Hunter asked.

"I don't, I mean to tell Catherine, as soon as I find a way that won't scare her to bad," I said.

"I've got a suggestion, have her over for dinner, maybe Saturday, when I'm over anyway, that way, if she needs confirmation, I am your doctor after all."

"Right, that'll work," I said.

"Alright, now, lay back, and we'll get started," Hunter said, picking up the wand, "You did as I asked, I assume?"

"I'm currently carrying two babies and eight glasses of water," I said.

"Right," Hunter said, and turned the machine on. Nick stood just behind him, staring at the screen, I knew that they wouldn't let me see until they had a chance to see, I was nervous, what if I did something wrong, what if there was something wrong with one of the babies?

I watched Nick's face, as Hunter looked intently at the screen, Nick moved his head closer, "Is that what I think it is?" He asked Hunter.

"I believe, Warrick, that you are going to have identical twins," Hunter said, in a perfectly calm voice.

"You, you can tell that?" I asked.

Hunter looked at Nick, who looked back, "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing wrong, just something that isn't seen very often, I've only heard of one case of it," Hunter said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Hunter and I were the only case I heard of," Nick said.

"We never fought as kids, some say it's because, in the womb, we shared an umbilical chord," Hunter said.

"And we did, we each had about this much of our own chord, the rest merged into one," Nick held his hands not far apart, about the length of a baby.

"Because of that, I was born within seconds of Nicky," Hunter said.

"So you two were almost siamese twins?"

"Another foot or so, and we would have been, yeah," Hunter said.

"Are they connected, to each other, besides the chord?" I asked.

Hunter looked at the screen closer, moving the wand around, "No, they are keeping their distance, they are not touching very much at all."

After Hunter was finished checking on the babies, he turned the screen to face to me, I could see faint outlines, and Hunter showed me the distinct lines, and pointed out the umbilical chords, and where they merged. "It's nothing to worry about, Warrick," Hunter said to me.

The next day, Nick and I got ready to go to work, Nick was carrying Nilde around the house, as he made lunch, it was an interesting sight, but even more so was the picture that Tara snapped, Nick had come up to me, and Tara snapped the digital picture of Nick holding Nilde, and he had his left hand on my stomach.

That night at work, we were in the hallway, when we first ran into Catherine, "Hey Cath," Nick said.

"Hi, Nick, Warrick," She said, "Here is your new assignment,"

"Thanks Cath, I was hoping, could we talk to you?" I asked.

"Sure, what is it?" she replied with her own question.

"Not here, I'm worried about people, overhearing, it's fairly personal matter, not something that I want to get around, quite yet," I said.

"No problem, after shift alright, we can go out for supper."

"Tomorrow, would be better, before shift, Nick's making a nice lunch," I said, it would be mostly Nick working anyway.

"Sure, tomorrow, your place, what time?"

"Noon, and if you guys want, since it's a Saturday, bring Linds, Tara won't mind having some company to talk to while we talk."

"Noon tomorrow, alright," Catherine smiled, offering Nick's cooking had probably sealed the deal for her.

Nick took the sheet, and nodded, we headed out, and spent the entire shift, at the crime scene, at Midnight, when we were only about half done collecting the multitudes of evidence, Nick called out for pizza, it was a big house, with evidence all over, we would have to eat in the truck, but it was needed, I needed the food for the twins, and Nick needed the food just to stay on his feet, he never admitted it, but I noticed that after more than a few hours without something to eat, Nick would begin to get unsteady on his feet. I don't know what it was about Nick that drained the energy of even a substantial meal off of him very quickly, and he never gained fat or anything like that from it.

It was nearly eight when we got back to the lab, Grissom was sitting in his office when we walked by, towards evidence lockup, we each had a trolley with the boxes loaded high on them.

"Nick, Warrick, after you've dropped that off, would you come to my office?" he asked.

Nick nodded, and we continued on our way, we split up, to deliver samples to be tested in the different parts of the lab, we met just outside Grissom's office.

"What can we do for you?" I asked, as we stepped in.

"Did you two just spend 16 hours processing a crime scene?"

"Almost, we have to go back and finish this afternoon, after we've slept," Nick said.

"Right, Um, would you shut the door, I don't want to be overheard," Grissom said.

Nick turned around and shut the door, Grissom waited a moment before speaking, "I assume, WArrick, that Nick's told you of the clans?"

"He and I have spoken in depth of our childhoods," I said.

"Good, then barring that information confusing you, may I speak freely?"

"Of course, what is it?" Nick asked.

"I know of two people, like yourself, Nick who need training in specific areas, they have some of the talents you described in your description of the clans to me, would you be able to help them?"

"If that is what they so wish," Nick told Grissom.

"Great, one second, and I'll get one of them in here," Grissom said.

"Whoa, wait a second," I turned to Nick, "Is this wise, you don't know who it is, they could pose a possible threat."

"Which I will be able to sense immediately, and counter," Nick said, "While Nilde and Encaitare are better with others emotions than I am, I'm still able to sense intent, if the person holds malice in them, I will know."

I nodded, and Grissom picked up the phone, but before he could dial, there was a knock on the door, "Come in," Grissom put the phone down.

"Griss," it was Greg, he saw us, and froze.

"It's alright Greg, come in, and shut the door behind you," Grissom said.

"What's going on?" Greg asked.

"Remember how I told you I had a friend who could possibly help you with your problem?" Grissom responded.

"Let's not talk about this in front of Nick and Warrick, Please," Greg practically begged.

"Nick is the friend I told you about, he is," Grissom paused.

"I'm involved in an organization that helps people with talents that could possibly be considered," Nick paused, thinking, "Unnatural."

"While all information about the organization, and thus the help it gives tends to be kept within the group, and their families, Greg, sometimes members find it necessary to tell someone else about it, and occasionally, if the person who is told knows someone who has these talents who was not raised among the organization, they will try to help."

"Well?" Greg asked.

"I know nothing of your situation, though I can tell you, the talent you possess, whatever it is, is not unnatural, I can normally tell when someone has talent, and this is rather surprising, I tested each of you the first time I met you, and while most of the lab came out normal, the rest came out as having latent powers, talents," Nick corrected himself, "when I tried to check on you, you appeared to be a member of a clan, that is why I never approached you," I said.

"How can he appear to be a member of a clan?" Grissom asked, "I thought it wasn't possible to tell?"

"Not normally, no, but certain talents do not allow for the person to shift loyalties easily, it is better to give a warning, than start a clan war, that may very well have been preventable, I was staying away from speaking to Greg of his talents, as there is part of him, that suggests, rather strongly that he is already part of a clan."

"I am not part of any clan, why do you say that I am?"

"Do you know what the clans are?" I asked.

"They are groups of people, with talents, like mine, they live, work, and have families together."

"Yes, and most people are either not allowed to leave, or don't want to leave, I however did, I thought you were the same way, did you leave a clan, unofficially?" Nick asked.

"My father tried to get me to join a clan, when he discovered my abilities, but I refused, the clan leader was not happy at that," Greg said, "That is the reason I left home."

"Raise your shirt, Greg, I need to see your back," Nick said, "there is one time, when someone is not marked on the hip, and I would like to see if your case is such."

Greg lifted his shirt, showing Nick his entire back, there was nothing on it, "I do have a birthmark on my Hip," Greg said.

"A birth mark?" Nick asked, and Greg automatically showed him.

On Greg's hip, was a mark I had come to know very well, it was superimposed over the scarred tattoo on Nick's hip, it had appeared fairly recently, but I recognized it.

"You've had that since birth?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Nick looked at me, "That's not what I expected."

"What does it mean?" Greg asked.

"The clan that mark represents has only been around for ten years, Greg," Nick told him.

"But, how is that possible?" Greg asked.

"I don't know, It'll take me a few days to research occurrences like this, and talk to a couple people, by next week, I can have two things done, I'll find out what this means, and I'll get you in contact with someone with your same abilities, from another clan, as you are the first one with that clan mark, since you've had it since birth, I'd say you have to be an oracle, and probably a rather powerful one at that."

"I don't want to be part of a clan," Greg said.

"You aren't in order to be a member of a clan, you must swear loyalty to the leader of the clan, and you have not, you just have the mark, preventing any other clan from claiming you as one of theirs." Nick said.

"I have a question for you, Greg, if you have had your abilities for a long time, why are you just seeking help now?" I asked.

"Since I can remember I have had these abilities, it wasn't until recently, however, they have become more powerful, they are starting to make it impossible to sleep."

"Was there a spike like this when you reached puberty?" Nick asked.

"No, why?" Greg asked.

"That's when an Oracle usually comes into their full power, this is how I had figured your father came to find out, as it is very disturbing for both the Oracle, and the people in the immediate area, when they get the visions, until they teach themselves how to control it,"

"I have to teach myself?" Greg asked.

"You could try ad few things that worked to keep you from getting them at inopportune times as a child, but I'm not even sure how that works, I was blessed by not having that ability on top of my others, males in my family tend to be weak, while my father and sisters are strong, we are the only ones, my brother, and all the other males on my father's side are weak, have been for a long time, it's amazing that two generations in a row, there have been a strong male. Anyway, that's not what we're talking about, and we have to get home, because Tara will be worrying, we haven't called or anything." Nick said.


	19. Chapter 19: Commitments

Chapter 19: Commitments

Nick and I headed home, he said good morning to Tara and Nilde before we both stumbled up the stairs and to bed, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Four hours later, I woke up, to Hunter arriving, he was let in by Tara, and I rolled over to look at Nick, he was laying awake, "Did you get any sleep?" I asked.

"A few hours, Hunter just woke me up, he's early," Nick said.

"We'll make him wait," I whispered, I had a fair sized bulge at my middle, and I could feel the babies move, as I tried to get closer to Nick.

"What do you plan to do while he waits?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, what do you think?" I reached down, and took hold of his penis.

"That seems like a very good idea," Nick smiled, and kissed me passionately, I was soon flipped onto my back, and Nick was tugging at my boxers, I pushed at his, as I lifted my ass from the bed, Nick shucked his boxers as he came back up to kiss me again, we didn't have a lot of time, and I really wanted to feel him in me, I reached for the night stand, and opened the drawer, there was a container of lube right there.

"What's the hurry?" Nick asked, sucking and kissing at my neck.

"It's already noon, Cath and Lindsay are going to be here at one," I said, I rolled over, under Nick, raising my hips once I had, he pulled back, and separated my ass cheeks.

"Looks like you really want this," Nick said, I felt a slick finger enter me a second after that, and it didn't even hurt, as Nick scissored his fingers, stretching me, and searching for my prostate, he rubbed the little nub causing me to moan, and push back into him each time, Once I was opened enough, I moaned at the loss of Nick's fingers, but was rewarded almost immediately by the feel of his cock pressing against my opening, I pushed back, gasping a little, as it pushed through the ring of muscle, it hurt only a little bit, as I could feel the rest of his cock slide into me. I moaned, and we rocked together, coupled, Nick hit my prostate on nearly every stroke, we both shouted, as we came. I fell to the bed, Nick nearly fell on me, but rolled us both onto our sides, as we lay there, he began to suck on my neck, "I love you, Warrick."

"I love you too, Nick," I said.

Nick continued sucking on my neck, until the doorbell rang, "Catherine's here," I said.

"And we haven't even showered yet," Nick added.

I got up, and Nick followed me into the bathroom, I could hear Hunter greeting Catherine at the door, as Nick turned on the shower.

Hunter's POV

"Hi, You must be Catherine, I'm Hunter, Nick's brother, he mentioned something about you bringing your daughter, possibly?"

"She was invited to a friend's house, for a sleep over tonight, she went over there a little early, I know Nick and Warrick have something important to tell me, so I figured that would be better."

"Right, well, come in, they're just taking a shower, lucky you didn't show up five minutes ago, I got quite the concert," I said.

Catherine gave me a questioning look. "Nick and I shared a room when we were teenagers, he's not shy about anything around me, so he didn't care that I was in the house, I've got all kinds of embarrassing stories about Nick," I told her.

Noises came from upstairs again, and I rolled my eyes, before yelling, "NICK, CATHERINE IS HERE, STOP FOOLING AROUND," I smiled at her, "Sorry, my little brother is a bit deprived these days, between his daughter and work, I think any moment he and Warrick are alone outside an official capacity they will be at it,"

"So I shouldn't assign them together?" Catherine asked.

"They'd never do anything on work time, so you don't have to worry about that, from what Tara said, they've only been home about four hours,"

"That scene must have been really bad, if it took them that long to process it," Catherine said.

"Possibly, so what kind of things do you do in your spare time?" I asked.

"Spare time, what's that? I'm a single mother, and a supervisor at the crime lab," Catherine said.

"Right, well, you know, I happen to know a guy that loves kids," I smiled.

Tara walked into the living room then, "Oh, Hi, Ms. Willows, how are you today?" she asked.

"I'm good, thank you, Tara, how's life treating you?"

"Very well, Is Hunter bothering you, because if he is, Nick will deal with him."

"I'm just making conversation," I said in my own defence.

"Sure you were," Nick came down the stairs, "Hi Catherine, how are you?"

"Good, good, and in Hunter's defence, he wasn't bothering me."

"That is unusual," Warrick came down the stairs, his hair hanging over his shoulders, dripping on the sweater he was wearing.

Nick wrapped his arms around Warrick from behind, "Lunch is almost ready," Tara said.

We all went into the dining room, Nick pulling out Warrick's chair for him, before going into the kitchen to help Tara. The pair brought out all kinds of foods, Nick and Tara finally sat at the table, and everyone began to dish up their food. Nick sat with Nilde's highchair beside him, he put some of the softer foods on a plate for her, she smiled at him, when he put it down. The conversation at the table during the meal itself was good, once the food was gone, Tara took Nilde into the kitchen to get her cleaned up. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Catherine asked, as the door closed.

"Remember when Warrick was sick almost three months back?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, you brought him to the hospital," Catherine said.

"Nick, let me tell it, please?" Warrick asked.

"Of course," Nick moved his chair closer to Warrick.

"Five and a half months ago, I was prepared to get sick, I have since I was sixteen, just before that, Nick and I began our relationship, as you will remember, it didn't come near as bad as it normally does, but that didn't worry me, anyway, three months ago, when I got really sick, Nick called Hunter, he's a doctor after all, and as soon as he could, he did an ultrasound, if I remember correctly, both he and Nick suspected what it was that was making me sick, the ultrasound showed the one mutation males in my family have that the rest of the world's males do not have, I have a womb, connected in some way to the rest of my body, I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it does, anyway, at the time, we figure I was about three months pregnant, at the time, I'm going to have twins," Warrick actually got it out pretty easily.

"Pregnant?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, I'm going to have twins," Warrick said.

"But, you're a guy, you can't be pregnant."

"That's what I thought," I said, "However, Warrick isn't the first man I know to have a baby, of course he is the first planning on giving birth naturally."

"Naturally?" Catherine asked.

"I found evidence just before I preformed the c-section on the other male, that it was possible for him to give birth naturally," I said.

"How do you expect to give birth?" Catherine asked.

"Well, there is three possible ways, we're not sure exactly which one it will be, there is the same way the egg was fertilized, there is one that goes down between my legs, and one that goes to my belly button, I'm hoping it won't be that one, as it would be more than just a little weird.

"And giving birth out your ass wouldn't be?" Catherine asked.

"That's how I would want to do it," Nick said, at the same time as Warrick said, "That's how I hope to do it."

They looked at each other and smiled, I had thought they had talked about it, but it seemed like they hadn't, by their looks. "Well, we'll have to see, and pray if all three options are available to them that they don't decide to take different ones, because if they did, one or both of them would probably be stuck," I put in my two bits, "The one I did was moving towards the back."

"So what do you need from work for this?" Catherine asked.

"Well, We've got almost all that we need for the twins, all we need from the lab, is time," Nick said.

"I don't want Warrick in the field after the commitment ceremony, and not even in the lab after the eighth month," I said.

"Hunter, remember, about family history, the chances of Warrick delivering at exactly nine months are slim to none, no woman in our family, married in or by birth, has ever carried for less than ten since history was written down, and the male pregnancy also carried for over nine months,"

"What are you saying?" Warrick asked.

"Yeah, what are you saying?" Catherine asked.

"Nick's trying to suggest, that if Warrick wanted to work past eight months, he's not likely to deliver until the middle of the tenth month, thus he could possibly work until the end of the eighth month, if he so wished, I'm not happy with that option, but it is a possibility Warrick could consider," I said.

"As a doctor, would you advise a female patient to stop working at the beginning of the eighth month?" Catherine asked

"I would suggest it as a consideration, except with a family history like Nick's I wouldn't worry about it to much, if she wanted to keep working a short time longer," I replied.

"And for a male patient?" Warrick asked

"My experience with male pregnancy is limited, there is no recorded cases, I've been involved in one, it was four years ago, he was ten years younger than Warrick, different body type, and it was only one baby, I would like to be careful, any future pregnancies, we'd know a bit more, I'm wanting to be extremely cautious on this, as we don't know very much yet," I pointed out.

"Right," Nick said, "You're right, as always, little brother."

"Little brother? you're the younger one," I said.

"We don't actually know, for sure, Little brother," Nick stressed the little brother part.

"Are you two done?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, you'll have to ignore our little spats, it's something we've done since we were nine," Nick said.

"You said you two never fought?" Warrick said.

"That anyone heard, we had little spats all the time, once we decided who we were, picked one or the other, though Tim was always the only one we told who was who, and according to him, he claimed he could tell us apart, he couldn't by the way."

"Tim? our Tim?" Catherine asked.

"You ever wonder why we don't get along?" Nick asked Catherine.

"I thought is was just a personality conflict."

"Right, we used to date, in Jr. High, and High school, he found out about Nilde, and started to spout something about not being true to myself, some righteous BS, that he never followed anyway, pissed me off, he even pretends to be straight," Nick shook his head.

"You used to pretend too," Catherine pointed out.

"I had to make it look good, I was playing a role, Tim isn't in hiding, and he's still playing a role, not that I care, I'm Happy, tried to make amends, but if he doesn't want to, nothing I can do," Nick said.

"I've seen Tim around a few times, there is a rehab place near my office, where he goes, he treats me like dirt to, I'm the one that fathered those boys, Nick just took credit for it, Nilde was his, his idea too, mixing it up on them, giving them the boys they wanted, and then, ending it, you see, our family is so accurate you can even tell which of the boys will have mostly daughters and which will have mostly sons, before they even hit puberty, the fact that Nick's second child, is a boy, they're both boys, it's somewhat surprising."

"Not really, the condition of the, well, Hunter, you know the science, 'Y' is faster, 'X' is more resilient, it's further to go, less problem areas, male is likely to beat female to the ultimate goal,"

Catherine looked back and forth, "Do you two normally have scientific debates at lunch?"

"It happens more often than you think," Warrick said, as Nick and I started to protest.

"So, tell me more about the wedding?" Catherine asked.

"Commitment ceremony, remember, this isn't a legal definition of marriage, we'll have to change things on our own, for anything to be legal."

"But if Warrick can safely carry and give birth to Children, then, you could possibly get a court to make it a legal marriage."

"There are ways of doing that, if you want," I said.

"Let's talk about it later, the final plans are still being put into place, but Catherine, if you would like to bring Lindsey, there are things for kids later in the night, we've planned a few things, Tara has agreed to head up the children's side of things, and we're going through the agency to get a few more caregivers for the week, Ukiah is bringing Kitt, he's what, two now, yeah, there are some older kids coming from Warrick's family, it'll be a time for parents to be jealous of, though we'll be having fun in our own way."

Nick's cell rang, and he got up, after looking at it, "I have to take this," he said, with an apologetic look.

Nick's POV

"Encaitare, what is it?" I asked.

"We've had a little problem here, I've captured a wild one, he's asking for asylum with the clan."

"This couldn't have come at a worse time, I've got problems up to the ceiling, logistics for the ceremony, Warrick's pregnancy and logistics with that, an oracle born with a clan insignia, our clan insignia to be specific, and a million other things that go on everyday."

"Oracle, with our clan insignia, how old?" Encaitare asked.

"Mid twenties, he's not willing to be with any clan, I've promised him protection, and have to deal with that right away, before it's realized he's not truly with anyone. Encaitare, what do you suggest with the wild one?"

"I'm not sure,"

"Well, you know the drill, since I normally have you run the checks, coordinate with the others, find out who he is, where he's coming from, who he's pissed off, and how much affect he'd have on us, get back to me with that information, when you have it, and Encaitare, be careful, you're irreplaceable," I told her.

"Thank's for your confidence, Nicky, so how is Warrick progressing?"

"Like he's pregnant with twins, along with a few unexpected cravings, were you ever horny while you were pregnant?" I asked.

"No, I wouldn't let him touch me, still won't most of the time."

"Hmm, interesting."

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I looked up to see Warrick looking at me.

"Sure, everyone is different, Nicky, everyone is different," Encaitare said.

"Right, I knew that, I was just wondering about you," I said with a little cringe in Warrick's direction.

Warrick laughed, "Alright, I doubt you were, so what's new that's good?" Encaitare said.

"I actually have a question for you, Encaitare, how did you find me?" I asked.

"I've told you before," Encaitare said.

"Ten years ago, when I still had no memory of who I was, now I want to hear what really happened."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Encaitare said.

"Caita, this is something I deserve to know, I still don't remember the events that led up to me being in contact with you, it's only that two weeks that is missing, and I know that you know what happened."

"Nicky, I can't tell you," Encaitare said.

"Then tell me this, was I dead when you found me, is that why you won't tell me what happened?" I asked.

"Yes, Nicky, you were," Encaitare admitted.

I closed my eyes, and took a few breaths, "who decided not to tell me?" I asked.

"We called you our little fire bird, wasn't that enough to tell you what we knew?"

"No, it wasn't until the last little while that I figured out what I was, Encaitare, why didn't you just tell me?"

"It's not that easy, Nicky,"

"No it's not, what were you waiting for, for me to wake up, possibly at a crime scene, and find I'm twenty again?" I asked.

"Nicky,"

"People have seen it, in less time than it's taken me to see it."

"That's because it's your own life, Nick," Warrick said.

"He's right there, Nicky, we'll talk about this later," Encaitare said.

"NO, we'll talk about this now, you were so talkative, when you didn't know he was right beside me, what are you hiding?"

"I'm hiding your past, I'm hiding something that could not only destroy your life as it is now, but any chances of happiness in the future,"

"He can't hear you, tell me what you're hiding," I said.

"It's not him I'm worried about, your abilities only protect you so far, Nick, when you ran that day, you ran into a situation that threatened that ability, you were to young, as a moral standard, we will do what we can to protect anyone in danger, as a phoenix some didn't feel you were in danger, as a rule I myself have, and this is the reason I left my former clan to join you, I will protect anyone, whether or not they are in mortal danger, that's why I brought you home that day."

"But what was the situation, I don't care what a different community thinks about protecting me, what happened from the time I ran, until the time you took me in two weeks later."

"I can tell you that there is a reason I never let you use the name Charles Gundry as you had in the past to lead away law enforcement from the clans, Remember, I told you to pick a different name, even though it was the name you wanted to use, even before you regained your memory,"

"Are you telling me that in those two weeks, Charles Gundry did something illegal?" I asked calmly.

"Not illegal, exactly, Charles Gundry is known to law enforcement, in many areas, they were alerted that there he was in every city, or town you went to, they were to keep an eye on you, this time they didn't, I didn't want the name following you anymore, going by your birth name, you were safer, because the attacker didn't know who you were."

"But what was it about Charles Gundry, or myself in those two weeks, that you don't want to tell me?"

"Charles was," Encaitare paused, she was still hesitating, but I recognised that she was about to tell me, and I kept silent, "Charles was injured, killed, he lost his entire memory, we didn't realize it, until after, until after you were killed, twice in two weeks, that's what caused the long term memory loss, as such, we are afraid you are at permanent risk of temporary memory loss any time you are killed, but we aren't sure, you lost the two weeks, because, there was no time to process it, before you were killed again."

"You're feeding me bits and pieces, what happened? Who, or what killed Gundry? And what happened two weeks later?"

"We aren't sure, like I told you, we didn't know that he had been, what happened two weeks later was the hit and run that you know about,"

"And between those two points in time? from the time I came on your radar, till I remember, what happened?" I asked.

"I can't tell you that," Encaitare said.

"Why not?"

"The community has informed me that if I do, my life is forfeit, you just told me I'm irreplaceable, so don't go forcing me to go against that order."

"Encaitare, from the time I was eight, I remember every detail of every day except for those two weeks, and you won't help me fill in the blanks."

"You're better off not knowing, Nick, it's not pleasant, live your life, forget about it," Encaitare said.

"I'm not going to forget that I lost two weeks, if I can't forget what happened when I was nine, what was so bad that I can't remember what happened when I was 25?"

"I'm sorry, Nick, I can't tell you," Encaitare said, there was strain in her voice, a strain I only heard when I was pushing her to hard.

"I'm sorry Caita, I didn't mean to push so hard, it just frustrates me, when I've gotten so close, but I still can't get what I want."

"I know, Nicky, I wish I could tell you, I really do, but, there are some things you're better off not knowing."

"Call me, when you get what I asked for, I should go," I said.

I said my goodbyes to Encaitare, and looked up, Hunter and Catherine had joined Warrick and I in the living room, somehow Tara managed to keep herself out of every situation that happened in the house for which I was profoundly grateful. I put my head against the back of the chair I was sitting in. "What's going on?" Hunter asked.

"Just a slight disagreement, you'll notice that happens almost every time she calls, she's the one that found me when I lost my memory ten years ago," I said.

"Lost your memory?" Catherine asked.

"We were both doctors," Hunter said, "No matter how hard we tried to keep ourselves distinct, even in university, people still kept mixing us up,"

"And I had been moving around a lot it was pure fluke we even ended up in the same school, let alone all the same classes, when we were assigned to the same rotations it was insane, I mean he'd see a patient, or another doctor, and if I was seen in the next hour, they'd ask if I'd changed," Nick said.

"It went so far as to one day, Nick stopped covering the scars from the attack, people still got us mixed up, even with that major difference, the second we finished our residency, and Nick was off to start his own practice, we split up, I ended up in Dallas, and Nick in Houston, then, he ran off, took a week's vacation and disappeared, for two years, turned up again, just started working on being a CSI, had been a cop," Hunter said.

"I ran into him on the street one day, looked just like me, a year later the group of people that found me ended up moving on, one to LA, one to Washington, and one to NewYork, I chose Vegas, because Gil Grissom was the best, and I wanted to learn from the best."

"And that last part has nothing to do with what I asked," Catherine said.

"True, but this way," I started.

"You're not getting the story in little parts," Hunter finished.

The next week passed quickly, we finished our case, and then Saturday noon came around again, I was in the kitchen, Tara helping me with lunch, Warrick was in the living room, playing a game with Nilde. "So, what do you have planned for Nilde's birthday next week?" Tara asked.

"I've invited some of the kids in the neighbourhood over, from noon till four, we'll have some games, and lunch, I've got the whole day off, and I've asked for no presents, I've got a lot of presents for her anyway."

"Is anyone from the lab coming?" Tara asked.

"I've put an open invitation to the Graveyard, and Swing shift employees to stop by, from 5 to 7, if they want to come by, don't know if anyone will show."

"Catherine said she'd be stopping by," Warrick came into the Kitchen, Nilde in his arms "And I overheard Tim talking to the DNA tech, who would like to come for a bit, she has a two year old daughter, and thought it might be good for her to come."

"More children, even after the party, yay, Nilde is not going to have a problem meeting other kids at least."

"One thing you've got to remember, Nicky, we'll most likely be at this for a long time, with lots of kids coming through here, including friends of our own," Warrick said.

"Yeah, I know, it's just, there is going to be insane amounts of kids here, and it'll be crazy," I told him.

"You'll be waiting for the calm," Warrick said, Nilde began to try to get away from him, and he put her down, she took hold of his fingers, and pulled herself up, then looked at me, Warrick had been holding her hands helping her toddle around the house for over a week now, she looked at me, smiled, and said "ADA, UP,"

"Well, come over here," I smiled, Holding Warrick's fingers, tightly, she took a few steps towards me, Warrick pulled one hand out of her grasp, and she wobbled a little, uncertain, she looked up at Warrick, with her own patented glare, and then back at me, I crouched down, and she kept to her goal, she reached her free arm to me, and I put my hand out to her, Warrick stopped walking, and she let go of his hand, taking two uncertain steps towards me, before she could reach my hand, I picked her up, and laughed, "You did it, you walked," I hugged the one year old, and we all celebrated.

The doorbell rang, and I said, "Greg's here,"

"No, really," Warrick said sarcastically.

"Are you going to get the door, or am I?" I asked.

"You can," Warrick said, he took some plates and went into the dining room, I carried Nilde to the door, and opened it.

"Hey, Nicky," Greg smiled

"Hey Greg, come on in, lunch is almost ready," I said.

"Great," he smiled.

Greg followed me into the house , and I motioned for him to sit down at the table, Warrick carried Nilde in from the kitchen, "You should let her walk, now," I smiled, kissing him, it was our home, and if Greg was going to be there, he would have to understand we were just that open.

I went into the kitchen, and heard Hunter walk into the house, he went into the dining room, and I smiled, listening, "Hey,"

"Hey Hunter," Warrick said, I turned back to the stove, Warrick didn't feel like playing games today.

Stepping back out, with the food, Tara following me, we put it all on the table, there was pancakes, sausages, eggs, bacon, Tara liked to go all out for these breakfasts, I think she was crushing on Hunter, though she did try to make good food most mornings, she went more out for when Hunter was going to be there. I noticed Hunter was wearing almost the exact same thing as I had considered that morning, but I had tossed it aside, for something that was a little freer, Greg started the conversation halfway through the meal, "So, about the clans..." He started

"Um, Greg, this is actually something that is kind of personal, you might want to wait till we're done eating," I suggested.

Greg nodded, and turned back to his food, as soon as Tara finished, she got up, and said, "I've got some things to do, before you go to work, just bring her down, when you leave," she had moved her things downstairs, as soon as Nilde started sleeping through the night, she now had a room she had created in the unfinished basement, it was sheets strung up from the rafters, she had a window, and she made the whole area look very nice.

We were looking for a bigger house, we would be short on room soon, if we weren't careful, even if we were, children got bigger, and three of them would take up a lot of room.

"So, now we can talk, Tara doesn't really know about the clans, we'd sounded it out, but she didn't respond,"

"Oh, sorry," Greg said.

"No big deal, really, just telling you, there are few things, most of them involving the clans that we're better off keeping a secret."

"Right, so, what did you think we needed to talk about?" Greg asked.

"There is two things, the not so little fact that you have my clan insignia on your hip, and the slightly larger fact that you're an unprotected oracle, as soon as someone realizes you're not actually a member of my clan, people are going to start showing up, trying to vie for your attention, they'll want your gifts, and a lot of them don't care about you as a person." I said

"How do you plan to deal with that, I mean, it's not really your problem is it?" Greg asked.

I stood up, and lowered the jeans off of one of my hips, the scars appeared first, then the mark, under the clan marking was my father's clan mark. "I'm the leader of the clan, and I consider you among my close friends, thus it is my problem,"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I can't make you swear your loyalty, for now, we can ignore the first problem, things like that tend to work themselves out in time, however, the second, I can protect you for a time, just using my name and influence, my allied clans tend to be of the immortal or nearly immortal type, and some of them are rather harder to kill than most people, my clan members included, half of them are invulnerable to certain viruses, where as an herb that we would think harmless could kill them in less than a minute, the rest are pretty much invulnerable to any virus, the only thing they have to worry about is fast acting poisons, murder, and infection from attempted murder."

"Don't forget the whole broken heart thing," Warrick said.

"Right, my clan is pretty strong, obviously, it's made up mostly of immortals, and then of course while I'm fairly easy to kill, I come back from the dead, and it's usually no where near as messy as when the pack comes back." the last part was directed in Warrick's direction.

"Messy?" Greg asked.

"They tend to go down in a blaze of gunfire, and it takes a while for them to heal up from that kind of damage, stuff like that tends to get noticed, I just found out recently that I had ever died, let alone more than once," I said.

"Oh, so you're immortal too, is there any member of your clan that isn't?" Greg asked.

"You, are the only person wearing the clan insignia who as far as I know isn't immortal in some way, and even Warrick who isn't yet a member of the clan is, in a form I can't talk about, yet."

"It's nearly 2," Warrick said, pointing out our lack of time, I picked Nilde up from her seat, and handed her to Hunter, the conversation hardly included him, so he could take care of the messy toddler.

"What's the significance of the mark on my hip?" Greg asked.

"It's the clan insignia, it shows that you belong somewhere, it's important, because it's proof you belong there, usually it's a tattoo, but mine seems to appear on it's own, as you have seen, yours has been there since birth, I'd say it has something to do with the elves in the clan, they've been leaderless for decades, even centuries, if one of them met your mother, while she was pregnant with you, being desperate for a leader, recognizing even before your birth that you were powerful, they may have claimed you, they recently marked me in a similar way."

"Marked you?"

"The members of my clan who are vampires can never be marked physically as a member of the clan, it's not possible but they are, the mark keeps clans together, so they have other ways of marking themselves as members of the clan, though I'm not entirely sure how, elves don't take well to tattoos, so they have to be marked in an ancient way, usually it takes a whole ritual, that may take hours, Greg, did your mother perhaps know about the clans?" I asked suddenly.

"Possibly, she left right before my dad tried to sell me off to the highest bidding clan, they weren't happy to have me run away, right after they paid," Greg said.

"Then there is a good chance she spoke to the elves, one or two of them would have been able to mark a child in the womb, then you would have been protected by them from birth, your mom may have been worried your power would attract people to you."

"But, what does all this mean?" Greg was seriously confused, as was Warrick from the look on his face.

"I'll start at the beginning, quite often, a clan member will have at least one child who has no power, there is a good chance, that Greg's mom was one of them, there are many clans in north America, some have disappeared and there are new ones, as you can probably tell, now, if Greg's mom discovered that Greg would be powerful, but she was not on good terms with the clan she was born into, then she may have gone searching for someone to help her protect him, elves are the best bet, though most of them were leaderless at the time, they had a group together, but they had no leader, the ones that were waiting and believed they were waiting for the phoenix to be their leader all chose a symbol, to mark themselves, they got together with some vampires who also were willing to join, and they waited, upon being approached to protect a potentially powerful child, they would have jumped at the chance, thinking that he may be the one, this explains the mark, and while I am the leader of the clan there are things they haven't told me, including some things that they did while they waited."

"What about the whole immortal thing, I'm not, will that affect me joining the clan?" Greg asked, "If I wanted to, that is."

"No, some people who have been hurt in the past by mortals would keep their distance, but they'd do that anyway," I said.

Warrick and I were nearly late for work I led him into Catherine's office as she was handing Charlie his assignment. "Warrick, Tim wants to see you in his lab before you head out, you've got a 419 at a B&B," she handed him a slip, "Nick you have paperwork, you are way behind on your reports." Catherine smiled at me.

"I'm not that far behind, am I?" I asked.

"Those are yours," Cath pointed at an overflowing box on the floor, "Your pile, almost rivals Grissom's."

"I never should have taken the position of your right hand man, if it weren't for the fact that I wanted to have more chance for promotion in the future, I wouldn't have,"

"Oh, you love me, Nick, paperwork, now, I have my own to do," Catherine said.

I took a seat on the floor, waving to Warrick as he left. Less than five minutes later, Tim rolled in, "Catherine, Warrick just collapsed outside my lab,"

I jumped up, and ran out of the room, Warrick was in the hallway, the DNA tech was sitting on the floor next to him, when I got there. Warrick opened his eyes, and tried to sit up, "Hold up, Warrick, you kinda took a little fall there," the tech said.

"Nick?" Warrick looked at me.

"Let me take a look," I said, I moved down his body checking his ribs, and back, it wasn't to bad a fall, but I wanted to be careful, with the twins, I pressed on the sides of his belly, and around the top, I was able to feel the twins, but only got one kick in response to my probing, I tried again, and got a double response, "Good enough for you?" I asked.

"For now," Warrick said, and I helped him sit up, the DNA tech stood over us, as I crouched next to Warrick.

"Nick? Warrick?" Catherine asked.

"I want to send Warrick to see Hunter, he's been having dizzy spells all week, and I'm worried," I said.

"What do you say, Warrick?" Catherine asked.

"Nicky, I wanna go home, Will you take me home?" Warrick asked.

"Take him, I'll take his Case," Catherine said.

I nodded, and helped Warrick stand up.

Catherine's POV

"What's with Nick, lately?" the DNA tech asked, "He's been hovering over Warrick like they were married or something."

"Well, they're making plans to do so, I'm surprised that you didn't hear, it's all over the lab, I mean, even Ecklie is invited."

"I'm not exactly on Nick's good side, are you serious, even Ecklie is invited, wait, inviting me to the wedding would be a way for Nick to prove I'm wrong," Tim trailed off.

"I don't think this is about proving you wrong, Tim this is about being with Warrick, and making it official."

"Nick's always been about proving people wrong, why do you think he became a CSI," Tim replied.

"He never proved you wrong before, Tim, he's made his effort, and he's moving on, that's it, now, I have a scene to get to."

I walked off, when I got back from the scene, Nick still wasn't back, I figured that Warrick had asked him to stick around, and he didn't want to leave him. "Cath, Nick called, I took the call, I know, when you're out Tim is supposed to take the non urgent calls for you, but the guy in reception remembered that Nick and Tim don't get along, so he forwarded it to my lab instead, Nick was talking really strange, I didn't even get everything he said, what I did get was along the lines of he wouldn't be coming back tonight."

"Alright, thank you, next time, just let it go through to Tim, he would have been able to translate more, they grew up speaking the same language," I told him.

"Really?"

"Best friends, I don't know the situation, but even Tim will suck up his dislike towards Nick if he needs to."

"Alright, so, got anything for me?" he asked, changing demeanor faster than I had previously believed possible.

"You're bored?"

"I was about to start a new set, so if you have evidence for me, I can fit some of it in."

I smiled, I loved that about this DNA tech, he'd hold off some samples in order to put more through at once, handed him the evidence bags I had for him, "The stain at the top of the knife blade, and in the gun are the most important, run a profile on the victim too, if you have room," I told him.

"Will do, do you have anything specific in mind to use for the victim's profile?" he asked.

"Stopped by autopsy before coming here," I handed him the vial of blood, "Doc pulled it specifically for your use."

"Thanks," he said, and went back into the lab.

Nick's POV

I drove Warrick to the house, taking stock of his condition as we drove, I had no clue what was going on, but he was getting worse, I called Hunter, and then the lab, I would not be returning that night. At the house, I helped Warrick to the bedroom, ignoring Tara's questions. Ten minutes later, Hunter arrived, Tara directed him upstairs, and he came into the room, "What is it?" Hunter asked.

"He's changing into his other form, I haven't been able to stop it, I'm not sure what it will do to the babies, I wanted you here just incase I have to change too, or we have to move him."

"Or both, it might be necessary for you to change, and follow him, if he's a large creature, wouldn't it be better if we went into the desert?" Hunter asked.

"Right, and there is no way to tell how large his other form will be, but if he's to small, he may get lost out there."

"You were full size your first transformation, we should get him out of the city," Hunter said.

I nodded, and Hunter and I carried WArrick back down the stairs and out to the car, once again ignoring Tara's questions. Hunter drove, while I sat in the back with Warrick, "Don't fight it love, it'll be easier if you don't fight it," I said, running my hands up and down his back.

Hunter found a deserted stretch of road, it was the same stretch that I used when I needed to transform, Hunter parked the car and got out, we helped Warrick move further away from the road, once we were at a safe distance, Warrick started to make a move to take his clothes off, I helped, not wanting to hamper him, as soon as his clothes were off, Warrick let himself relax, and within seconds his skin was becoming a lighter colour, and wings began to sprout from his back, he began to grow in size, until he was fully transformed, he was a pure white dragon, with a 16' wing span, I quickly stripped out of my clothes, as I did so, I realized the dragon was female, this explained a lot of things about him, I transformed into my other form, I was a phoenix, though why I hadn't realized that spread over to my everyday life was beyond me, my wing span was similar to Warrick's and I took off immediately upon changing, but as soon as I realized Warrick wasn't joining me, I touched back down. "What is it?" Hunter asked, however I couldn't communicate normally in my phoenix form, so I used the little bit of telepathy Hunter had, 'He's scared of heights,'

The next thing I did, was nudge Warrick, he didn't have to fly, he had large powerful legs, he could walk I had a destination in mind, where we would have privacy, Hunter waved to us, as Warrick followed below me. When we arrived at the secluded area, I touched down again. Warrick's form was extremely tempting to me, just as his natural form was, I moved in front of him, my movements on the ground nowhere near as graceful as in the air, I looked like a little pigeon, or some similarly annoying bird. I changed into my human form, so I could talk to Warrick, with one of us in human form, we could talk telepathically, 'Warrick, are you ok?' I asked

'I wasn't trying to transform, I didn't want to, this hasn't happened like this before,' He replied, Hardly moving.

'Hon, how often has this happened?' I asked.

'I've changed unwillingly before once, the first time, it took me eight hours to change back, I normally change every few months, as time and privacy permit,'

'It was probably to long from your last change, this form needs to come out on a regular basis, I used to change every time before I went flying, the freedom the form allows is amazing," I said, 'I've missed it.'

'You're not appalled by me, I'm a dragon,' Warrick said.

'I'm a Phoenix, I'm a bird, trust me, a dragon is a much more magnificent creature, and you're the rarest kind,'

'Really?" Warrick asked.

'White Dragons are very rare, white female dragon, well, I haven't even heard of one before today,' I said.

'I'm female, Warrick twisted his body to check, and sure enough he noticed the lack of male reproductive organs hanging out.

'You're a hermaphrodite, dragons don't leave their equipment hanging out, but male dragons don't have an opening here,' I had walked around his body to finger the opening, it was actually pretty large, probably to match Warrick's size.

'Don't do that,' Warrick said, then looked at me curiously, 'you're not sickened by it?'

'Not in the least, I may be gay, but you're my mate, it doesn't matter that you have a second form, or that it's a different species, or that it has female parts, it's you all the same.'

'Nick, this may seem like an odd request, but, could you actually do it again?' Warrick asked after a second.

'Do what, this?' I asked, reaching up again, this time I didn't pull my hand away, the opening became wet, and slightly looser, his bulk wavered, as he moaned mentally, and the physical body groaned as well. I kept fingering the dragon's opening, slipping two fingers inside, Warrick's other equipment began to make an appearance, from the hidden sheath, I reached up with my other hand to stroke that, Warrick shifted his tail to the side, his tail was the same length as his body which matched his wing span, he was perfectly proportioned. Suddenly Warrick's voice was in my head again, 'Can you fuck me in your larger form, oh this feels so good,'

I smiled, and stuck the rest of my hand in, as a phoenix I was rather large, and well, the hole needed to be a bit bigger in order to accommodate me, when I deemed him open enough, I moved a step or two away from him, and transformed, the phoenix was actually more like a dragon than a bird, I had scales on my body, and wings, the anatomy of my body was nearly identical to that of a dragon, but with a shorter tail, I was hard, and it was obvious, my penis was completely out of it's sheath, I hovered over him, before settling down, slipping in, his rubbed against my hole, and as soon as he was also completely hard, I moved myself in such a way that he entered me as well. We stayed joined for an hour, before I came, that triggered Warrick, and He rolled us over, so he was on top of me. We stayed like that, and Warrick fell asleep soon after. It was well after midnight when he woke up again, and we went back towards the road. My truck was there, but Hunter wasn't, he probably had someone pick him up, sick of waiting for us. I changed back, into my regular form, and pulled the clothes from the backseat on. While Warrick was changing, I opened the hood, if Hunter had to call for a ride, he probably made it look like the car wouldn't start, when they showed up, I found what he had disconnected, and reconnected it, Warrick gave me a look, "Hunter called for a ride, in order to do that, he had to make it look like the car wouldn't start."

"Right," Warrick said, "So we missed work, Catherine isn't going to be mad, is she?"

"I took you home sick, I called the lab after we left and said I couldn't leave you," I said.

Warrick nodded, "How are the babies?" I asked.

"I don't think they liked their little trip in a dragon," Warrick said, "They're kicking up a storm."

I smiled, and we got in the truck, and I drove to a small restaurant, where we got something to eat, then headed home, my cell rang, as we pulled up to the house, I parked and picked up my phone, it was Catherine, "Hey, Nick, How's everything?"

"Better now, it's been mostly dealt with, we've got a doctor's appointment on Monday," I told her.

"So you'll be late?" Catherine asked.

"No, we're going in the morning, this way we're not going to be late all the time."

"Right, do you know why he passed out?"

"Same reason anyone else does, loss of blood pressure to the brain."

Catherine and I spoke for another ten minutes, then I said, "Would you like to talk to WArrick, to allay your fears?"

Warrick rolled his eyes, we were in the house by then, talking quietly so we didn't wake Tara or Nilde. Warrick took the phone, and spent 20 minutes trying to convince Catherine that he was ok, then he pulled the ace out of the hole, "I am fine now, but I need to sleep, alright Cath, I'll be in tomorrow, this afternoon, I guess, it's one now.

Warrick hung up a second later, and we went upstairs, to bed. I woke up at eight, and went downstairs, Tara was in the kitchen, and Nilde was wandering around the living room. 6 days later, we had the party for Nilde, it was 1:30, when the phone rang, interrupting a game of pin the tail on the donkey, that we had going, it was so cute to see the 15 one and two year olds, dizzy try to stick the tails on the wall. Most of the parents had stayed, as at that age, the kids were a little to young for the parents to not stay. I let Warrick take over the game, as a parent handed me the ringing phone. "Stokes-Brown home," I said into the phone, it was a greeting I had started using after the birthday invitations had gone out.

"Nick, it's your father," he said.

"Oh, Hi Dad," I said, waving Hunter away as he came up to me.

"What's going on down there, I've heard rumours of a big wedding down there, one of my sons, and I haven't been invited."

"No, you weren't invited, You see, I have a slight problem with the way you treated me when I was younger, and I don't want my family exposed to that."

The time until the wedding passed slowly, then the day of came, I helped Warrick get dressed, we left with plenty of time to spare, the ceremony would be short, since the party would be long, and we wanted to keep the FBI from getting at Rennie who was conducting the ceremony. After the ceremony, we had the regular reception, at midnight, most people left, leaving us with our closest friends, all who had been warned generally what would happen next. Warrick and I went to the door, and let our secret guests in, I led Grissom's mom in, and Sara's friend, Warrick brought in Sam, and Greg's Aunt who was someone who had always been on his side in everything, getting him into the schools he wanted when his parents didn't make the required effort to get him in the accelerated classes he did so good in. After a few hours of talking and socializing, Warrick and I got everyone's attention, "Earlier today, practically yesterday, Warrick and I committed ourselves to each other, and now it's time to get this party started."

The rest of the week passed all to quickly, after the final guests left our home, and Nilde went to bed, Warrick collapsed on the couch, and I sat lifting his feet into my lap, I began to rub them and he groaned happily.

"Like that?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Warrick said, closing his eyes.

Warrick fell asleep as I rubbed his swollen feet. Tara came in awhile later, as I sat there watching my sleeping lover.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey, um, I noticed how tired Warrick got today, just hanging around, I also noticed a few times where he seemed to get a little dizzy, I know he hasn't been feeling 100 the last couple weeks, that's why I mentioned it to you, not to infringe on his privacy or anything."

"I know, about both your reasons and how he's been feeling, I've noticed it a few times myself, I'd appreciate it if you kept a slight eye out for him, I try, but it seems every time I turn my back something happens, it might be better for him to have both of us discretely keeping an eye on him," I said.

There was a knock on the door, after awhile, and Tara went to get it, it was Grissom, "Hey," he followed Tara into the living room, Warrick's stomach had been prominently displayed by his position on the couch, and I hadn't the heart to move him. "He's been putting on weight," Grissom mentioned, after I motioned for him to sit in the chair next to the couch.

"You would too, if you were in his condition," I said, reaching over, and pulling Warrick's t-shirt down.

"I didn't mean it as an insult, I've pretty much figured out what's going on, I've still got limited access to your personnel files, I noticed he's been told by his doctor to take some time off after your wedding."

"Why are you so interested in out lives?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Grissom asked.

"You were never this interested in what happened between or to us when we worked under you, then suddenly we're working under Cath's supervision and you're all about knowing what's going on, staying in the loop, what's up with that?"

"It has to do with what happened before the whole transfer situation, I don't know what happened between you two, but you go from friends and competitors to who knows what in a matter of months, Warrick suddenly starts putting on weight, not taking his usual vacations, I don't know, I guess I just stayed in the loop a bit different when you were on my team, to a point you didn't notice it."

"Now I want to know what you mean?"

"I used to keep tabs on you guys, no matter what, it wasn't that hard, I've got my friends, I still try to, but it's more difficult, all his doctor's appointments are with a gynaecologist, after the office closes or before it opens, he's moved in with you, he's helping you with your daughter, I guess in the last eight months I've felt cut out, because I can't keep the same tabs on you I used to."

"How do you know this?"

"I have friends, they keep me appraised of any situation, in or outside the lab," Grissom said.

"Your friends are the bugs, your power isn't really latent as I thought, you've had it for so long I didn't even realise it was active."

"It was always more passive than anything else, I was hoping to learn how to control it."

"I can't help you there, is it just bugs, or more creatures?" I asked.

"More creatures, arachnids are the easiest to communicate with, and they're everywhere, so if you see one, no one thinks about it."

"You really are spider man, I'll tell you this, it's as controlled as I've ever seen, do you change into one, or just talk to them?" I asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, I can communicate with humans who are in animal form, because there are people that can change," I said.

Grissom gave me a look I couldn't identify, and I looked back down to Warrick, he opened his eyes, "Why did you stop?" he asked.

"Sorry. Grissom is here, you want to sit up and talk, or go back to sleep?" I asked.

"I should sit up, my back, it's killing me," Warrick said.

I nodded, and eased his feet to the floor, Warrick was fine from a sitting position, but when he was laying down on the couch he already needed a hand up, the twins were already heavy and the way they were sitting at times could cause him no end of discomfort. I stood up, and Warrick took my hands, I pulled him up, and into a sitting position on the couch. "Well, that's embarrassing," He said, looking at Grissom.

"I figured it out a month and a half ago," Grissom said.

"Really?" I asked.

"It's more obvious than you would like to think," he mentioned.

"You are seven months, we knew you wouldn't be able to hide it forever," I said.

"Seven months, no way, I was thinking more like eight, eight and a half," Grissom said.

"Twins will do that," Warrick said, shifting his weight again.

I reached over, and began to rub his back, he shifted to lean into my palm, Grissom just smiled at us. "So, What are your plans after they are born?" he asked.

"I'll be staying home with them for the first six months, then, Tara will still be around to take care of the kids while we're at work." Warrick said.

It was strange for me, not working scenes with Warrick, I'd find any excuse to go into the AV lab and talk to him, over the next month, and it began to drive me crazy to leave Warrick in the afternoon, and he'd be asleep already when I got home, it was after a rather difficult case, a simple home invasion turned out to be a case where a little twelve year old boy had been raped by the man, I wasn't any closer to catching him than at five, when I arrived at the house, there was DNA to be processed from the boy's fingernails, and surprisingly the boy had asked me to stay in the exam room, when the nurse collected the SART kit. I sat on the stool beside the bed, holding his hand in my gloved one, distracting him from what the nurse was doing, the boy whose name was James, had asked me to talk about when I was a kid. "When I was nine, my brother and I finally had to decide who was who, because we started to grow up at different rates, emotionally not physically, no one could tell us apart until we were fifteen, and I got hurt, we'd wake up every morning and decide between us who we would be that day, until one day, it just stopped." I told him.

"What happened?" James asked.

"I don't know, I guess we just grew up," I told him.

"Do you still look like him?" James asked.

"Except for some scars, yeah, he's a doctor now," I smiled in response.

"All done," The nurse said, taping the bag shut, and signing the label.

"Thank you," I said, James looked up at me, and said, "Thank you for staying with me."

"Glad to do it," I told him, looking at him in the eye "I would have been scared, if something like this happened to me, I can't imagine what it would be like."

"I'm glad you aren't telling me that you understand, that's what they all told my sister, when she was raped two years ago, but you don't, no one does, unless it happens to them,"

"That's for sure," James, you're very brave, and I'll do what I can to get this guy,"

"If not for what he did to me, to stop him from hurting someone else," he told me.

"Are you sure you're twelve?" I asked, "You act more mature than that."

"My sister needs my help with her kids, I guess I grew up faster than you and you're brother did,"

"Right, I guess that can happen, can't it, growing up faster than you should," I replied.

"So you'll find the guy?"

"I'll find him," I smiled, "Someone has to."

James nodded, and his sister walked up, her three kids hanging off of her, "Are you all done here?"

"Yeah," James said, reaching out and taking the one year old boy from his sister, the little boy curled up into his uncle's chest, where as he had been screaming before.

"No heavy lifting for a few days, alright, I've set you up with an appointment with one of the councilors here at the hospital tomorrow morning," the young doctor said, she handed the boy four prescription bottles, "I know how it can be, so I got these filled for you," the doctor gave James instructions on the medications, and I walked him and his sister to her car, picking up the two year old, she carried her three year old. At the car, I said goodbye, before going back into the hospital, and got what I needed, and headed back to the lab.

I logged in the evidence, and set to writing the orders for processing it, before going home. I went home, and crawled into bed Next to Warrick, I couldn't sleep though, and got up again at two, so I wouldn't wake up Warrick, with my tossing and turning, I lay on the couch, and turned on the TV, I must have fallen asleep soon after.

"Nick, you should go to bed, don't stay down here," It was Hunter, he must have come to check on Hunter before he went to work.

"Hunter, the case was horrible, a 12 year old, raped, in his home, and when they finished the exam, do you know what he asked me?"

"What?" Hunter asked.

"If I'd find the guy so he couldn't hurt anyone else, then he took his nephew from his sister, and they left."

"You were that grown up at the age of nine," Hunter said.

"No I wasn't, I only let you know what happened, and I wouldn't let you tell anyone, I was selfish."

"But you learned to help people because of that,"

"I wanted to stay a child, that's why I didn't tell, I chose to be Nicky more often, because the name was more like that of a child, Hunter, I just wanted to stay a kid."

"You still are, little brother, you still are." Hunter said, "Now go to bed, go lay with your husband, feel your children move, feel their growth."

"Thanks Hunter," I said.

I did as I was told, and went upstairs, crawling behind my husband, and wrapping my arms around him. Over the next three weeks, while I did have other cases to work on, every free moment I had I spent working on Jason's case, at the end of three weeks, my fourth run of the DNA through CODIS got a hit, a man had just been entered into the database because he had broken into a house, and raped an murdered a young woman, day shift had the case, I went to the interrogation room, that they had a suspect in, one of the detectives was asking him questions. "I've been running DNA results from one of my cases, a 12 year old boy was raped, it matches the DNA from your case, is this the guy?" I asked.

"We think so, but we can't get a warrant for his DNA," the investigator I was talking to said.

"He hasn't touched anything, drank anything..." I started listing off all the tricks in the book.

"Nick, it's not exactly protocol to do something like that," she said.

"A twelve year old boy, don't you get it, this guy is evil, protocol or not, it's a perfectly legal way to gain a DNA sample, hell, I'd even take a sample of his piss right about now, even if I had to beg Greg to do the DNA on it, because none of the DNA techs is willing to do DNA testing on long shot piss."

"How would you get a sample of that?"

I looked at her, "I don't know, but I'm going to find some way of getting this guy's DNA, before he leaves here, preferably."

Just then he stood up, pushing away from the table, "I'm not saying another word, until I talk to a lawyer," at this I noticed a large amount of saliva had exited his mouth.

I looked at her, "this is my opportunity, see ya," I smiled, and opened my kit, pulling out some swabs, I walked into the interrogation room, where the detective was sitting back in his chair, just staring at the suspect.

"Stokes, what are you doing in here?"

"It's for a different case, we want him for a photo lineup," I said, swabbing some of the saliva from the table, "would you consent to that?" I asked the man.

"Fine," he said.

"Thank you," I smiled, reached into my kit, and pulled out two things, a marker for the picture, and my camera, holding the marker below his face, I snapped two pictures.

"What are you planning?" I was asked as I exited the room.

"I needed a way of identifying he's a suspect," I said, writing the information on the evidence label, if you will?" I asked.

"If I will what?"

"Well what grounds do I have to submit it in my case, none."

"Right," she said, and wrote the case number on the tag for me.

"Thank you so much," I smiled, and walked towards the DNA lab.

"Tommy, will you run this ASAP, it could pertain to two open cases," I handed him the box.

"Will do," he nodded at me, taking what I handed him, "I'll have you paged as well, when the results are in."

"Thanks Tommy, you're great," I left the lab, and started in on one of my other open cases, until the end of shift, I then headed home. Hunter had moved into the spare room, and had helped me turn the office into a room for the twins, however makeshift it was, the wallpaper had been taken off, since it had been peeling anyway, but we had only painted that wall, the carpet was worn through in some places, and we had moved Nilde's old crib in, and with the second newer crib, there was hardly room for both the change table and the dresser Warrick had fallen in love with, the rocking chairs we had, one was mine already from when Nilde first came to live with me, and the other was a new one which was the most comfortable thing in the world, the older one was put in the living room, Warrick's new favourite seat in there, and the other was in our room, since there wasn't space in the babies' room for it. The spare room, the one Hunter was using wasn't much better, it barely had room for a queen sized bed, dresser and desk, the living space was also crowded out by our computer desk which held two desktop computers, and usually one or both of our laptops, when they weren't in use, or I was at home.

I crawled in behind Warrick, that night, after tripping over several toys on my way up the stairs and nearly falling down the stairs when I reached the top, because, someone had set up another baby gate there. "You're finally home," Warrick whispered.

"Yeah, I think I got a break in the rape case I was working, the suspect was brought in on something apparently unrelated, but I had matched the DNA from my case to their case, it's being run tonight."

"That's good, so you had a successful day at the office then."

"We're one step closer to getting another one of those perverts off the street, so yeah, I'd say it was pretty successful."

Chapter 20: Epilogue

"Come on, Warrick, you can do it," Hunter said, as Warrick screamed his way through another contraction.

"No, I can't, Nicky, take me to our transformation place, I have an idea," Warrick said.

Hunter and I loaded Warrick up in the Tahoe, and Hunter drove us to the secluded piece of road, once we were parked, I helped Warrick out of the truck, and the few paces further, there he transformed almost immediately, in Dragon form, the contractions stopped for a time, and Warrick lay down to sleep, an hour later, they started again. Warrick looked at me calmly, through deep set eyes, his face showing more than a hint of the pain, then he rose into the air and began to fly off, I didn't even bother removing my clothes, I transformed into the phoenix and followed him, my torn clothes falling off behind me. Warrick landed at the mouth of a cave we had discovered together, he lay in the opening, muscles quivering. Four more hours later, Nick could see something at the opening on his belly, transforming into his human self, he walked up to the large dragon, surprisingly, the something, was an egg, roughly twice the size of a newborn baby, Nick caught it before it could hit the ground, the second one appeared soon after, Warrick nuzzled the eggs gently for a second, before turning to Nick, he presented the eggs to the man, before falling asleep Nick nuzzled the eggs as well, realising they would be safe for the time being, he transformed into phoenix form, and curled up behind his mate who placed the eggs between them to keep them warm. It wasn't until two days later that Warrick moved again, Nick had been out hunting several times, and gotten food from town as well, Hunter having left the car for them, he picked up the car seats, and explained to Hunter what was going on, that was the first day, When Nick returned from Hunting the second day, Warrick had dug himself a nest of sorts. At the end of the second week, Nick took one egg in his talon, and Warrick took the other, they flew towards the road, and returned to the car.

Upon arriving at the car, Nick changed back into human form, but Warrick didn't, first he took the eggs one at a time, in his mouth and cracked them open, Nick helped the babies, cleaning them up, and wrapping each of the screaming boys in blankets, before buckling them into the seats, he also wrote down the time, as Warrick made a slow transition to human form. They got in the car, and drove back to the city, Hunter was waiting at the house for them to arrive, he and Nick filled out the paperwork, and then started making calls. The next 20 years, while at times trying, were the most wonderful of that lifetime, Warrick stopped aging about the time the boys were born, later, when Nick was in his nineties and Sick, Nick looked at his lover, and asked him to end it, reminding him that he would return as a young man, Warrick refused, and that lifetime, lasted another 20 years, Nick Stokes lived long enough to become a great grandfather, before dying, Warrick immediately had his body removed to a crematorium, where he was placed in the unlit oven, he was consumed with fire, while the man who was in charge took a lunch break, when he returned, he discovered the body was in ashes, he placed them in an urn, and unknowingly handed the man his own ashes which Nick spread on a windy day in the desert, none have seen the desert bloom so brilliantly since that summer.

A/N: Well, that's all, I'm done, don't you hate my ending, but it was waaaaaaaaay to long, and I had writers block, I think I offended the muse, by refusing to listen to his partner's suggestions. Well, This is the end, I must go now.

Love you all, tell me what you think aight?


End file.
